President Obama's Visit

Good morning!  Thank you all for joining us to welcome President Barack Obama to the University at Buffalo.  What an amazing way to kick off the fall semester!

You may know today is “move-in day” for more than 5,000 new University at Buffalo students.  I can’t think of a better introduction to UB campus life!

It’s great to see so many new and returning students here today, as well as faculty, staff, and neighbors from across Western New York.

We are thrilled to host President Obama, and we applaud his leadership in championing student success and access to educational opportunity.

We strongly share this commitment, and we are also honored today to host a member of the President’s cabinet, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

At UB, we are heeding the Secretary’s call to be innovators in our classrooms, our research laboratories, and our overall student experience.

We’re also delighted to have several special guests with us this morning to welcome President Obama, including SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and SUNY Trustees and our Western New York government officials.

Together, all of us in this room are making history.

Over the years, UB has had the honor of hosting several former U.S. Presidents and other distinguished heads of state.

But today’s visit by President Obama marks the first time since 1853 that UB has hosted a sitting U.S. President. 

So you can imagine how proud we are today.

As a major public research university, UB is a leading voice in the national higher education conversation.

UB is proud to partner with a consortium of 20 other excellent colleges and universities in Western New York.  Many colleagues and students from those institutions are with us today.

Our 29,000 UB students come to us from across the state and nation, and around the globe, to pursue a world-class education at our university.

As a young student in India with dreams of becoming a teacher, I knew that U.S. higher education was the best in the world.

Today, as president of a major public research university, I want to ensure that US higher education continues to be the destination of choice for students from across the globe for generations to come.

At UB, we create spaces where people of diverse perspectives and backgrounds can come together to discuss the critical issues we face as a society.

This is one of the things that major public research universities like UB do best. And that’s exactly why we’re here today.

We are especially honored to host this discussion about a topic of great significance: Ensuring our U.S. system of higher education remains the best in the world, and ensuring we all have access to a superb education at a world-class institution like UB.

These issues matter deeply, not only to our nation’s colleges and universities, but to all of us.

UB is deeply proud to host President Obama today as he begins this important conversation about higher education opportunity…here at our great university.

On behalf of the entire University at Buffalo community, thank you all for joining us today.  You are part of history in the making!