President's Corner
What I'm Up To
- I'm reading:
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Have you ever wanted, for just a few minutes, to walk through the world and experience it as your dog does, with that amazing sense of smell your dog possesses? Or to see UV light the way birds do? Or to travel through pitch black darkness using echolocation, the way bats do? If so, read Ed Yong’s bestselling An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us. This is a wonderful book that will have you stopping to read aloud yet another fun fact to whoever is nearby. It’s a wonderful reminder of how much wonder surrounds us each day and how limited is the way we walk through the world. Just delightful. And you’ll never rush your dog along again during a walk.
- I'm watching:
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Be warned, if you start watching the Irish dark comedy Bad Sisters, you’re likely to just stay on the couch binge watching all ten episodes of what was the best series on television in 2022. A murder mystery with one of the worst villains/victims in recent history (not a plot spoiler, as you know he dies right from the start), a terrific ensemble cast led by the wonderful Sharon Horgan (if you watched Catastrophe, you know her), and the perfect combination of sharp Irish wit and warmth and comedy. Fun fact: Becka is played by Eve Hewson, who happens to be the daughter of U2’s Bono, and the nepo baby holds her own and more with the rest of the talented cast.
- I'm listening to:
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While my musical tastes mostly run to popular music of various kinds, I end the year with Vadim Neselovskyi’s Odesa, a solo piano jazz homage to the musician’s Black Sea home in war torn Ukraine. Neselovskyi teaches at nearby Berklee College of Music and he wrote it for his father, dying of cancer, and also as a celebration of the city. The album is a musical tour of the city he loves, a recollection of his own youth (Jewish, in a city with its own dark past on this front), and is historically grounded in Odesa both past and present, as a sad and also heroic history is being written at this moment. Proceeds go to Ukrainian Relief.
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I'm tweeting at @snhuprez:
“How was Antarctica?”
Posted on January 20, 2023
Lots of people are asking about my recent 15-day trip to Antarctica, and the answer is “Amazing!” In short order: One of the best trips I’ve ever done, exceeding my expectations. The animals are abundant and incredible: penguins, whales, seals, a variety of birds. The landscapes are majestic, the weather capricious. It was a rollicking […]
Read More »Pop Picks – December 26, 2022
Posted on December 26, 2022
What I’m watching: Be warned, if you start watching the Irish dark comedy Bad Sisters, you’re likely to just stay on the couch binge watching all ten episodes of what was the best series on television in 2022. A murder mystery with one of the worst villains/victims in recent history (not a plot spoiler, as you know […]
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2022: Celebrating Connection & Community
Posted on December 21, 2022
2022 brought many reasons to celebrate at SNHU. Here are some of my top highlights from the year.
Read More »SNHU at its best: Celebrating our 2022 fall graduates
Posted on December 6, 2022
Two weeks ago, we celebrated our Fall 2022 Commencement ceremonies. This fall, more than 17,000 students completed their degrees with SNHU; nearly 4,000 graduates and 20,000 guests attended the ceremonies in Manchester, NH; and this weekend we will celebrate 4,500 in our virtual ceremonies. Graduations at SNHU are always particularly celebratory, warm, and personal. They […]
Read More »Pop Picks – November 7, 2022
Posted on November 7, 2022
What I’m watching: I’ve long thought that Jennifer Lawrence’s acting in 2010’s Winter’s Bone was her best work and a tour de force. Then we watched Causeway, the new film released on Apple TV+. After going with blockbuster and conventional Hollywood fare in ways that made me despair for her best self (even if she cleaned up professionally), […]
Read More »Pop Picks – September 7, 2022
Posted on September 7, 2022
What I’m watching: Just saw Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis and absolutely loved it. Critics mostly were “meh” and it rated only a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes. I say this as someone who doesn’t love musicals nor biopics in general, but this was so much fun. Mostly because of Luhrmann’s baroque style, visual vocabulary, and strap-yourself-in pacing. He is […]
Read More »Pop Picks – August 10, 2022
Posted on August 10, 2022
What I’m reading: I’m in an Antarctica state of mind and used a 16-hour plane ride and then being laid low by Covid to read two splendid books: Alfred Lansing’s 1959 Endurance, the best book about Ernest Shackleton’s incredible voyage, and Sara Wheeler’s Terra Incognita, her 1996 adventure travel book which is as much about a spiritual […]
Read More »A broader view: Why refugee safety and security must include access to education and economic opportunity
Posted on June 30, 2022
By Paul LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University Last week, we celebrated the strength and courage of refugees on World Refugee Day, at a moment when the refugee crisis has been thrust into focus with millions fleeing the war in Ukraine, creating the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II. Now more […]
Read More »Heartbroken and Speechless — Yet Again
Posted on May 25, 2022
I’m not often at a loss for words, but the events in Uvalde, Texas, yesterday have left me heartbroken and speechless. Just last Wednesday, I shared my reflections on the horrific events in Buffalo and Southern California. Here we are just 10 days later, and once again, our country is reeling. We must acknowledge today […]
Read More »Pop Picks – April 25, 2022
Posted on April 25, 2022
What I’m reading Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet is stunningly good. And searing in parts, as it goes deep into the grief of losing a child in ways that are almost unbearable to read, unimaginable as it is to any parent. It’s also the intimate story of Agnes, Shakespeare’s wife (he is actually a secondary character), their marriage, family, and journey. […]
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