Dear Mavericks,

Happy new year, and welcome to Spring 2023! In the Lunar calendar, 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, a symbol of intellect, adaptability, and empathy. Those traits are familiar to us as Mavericks, which is a truly great sign for things to come.

For those of us coming back on Monday, I hope that you have had a chance to rest, relax, and maybe catch up on your Netflix queue over the break. To our staff who have kept everything running, thank you for everything you do to make sure that UNO is the place where amazing work can happen. And to those of you who attended our January J-term session, we were so excited to see so many Mavericks take on the opportunity of that accelerated session.

2022 was a busy, exciting year. UNO lived our mission of community engagement and were named among the 2022 Most Engaged Campuses for college student voting. We saw unprecedented growth in attendance in our athletic events, and our awesome student-athletes competed like never before with several championship tournament appearances in softball, baseball, volleyball, and hockey! More than 3,500 students also gained greater opportunity by earning their college degrees, and it was amazing to see 4,881 Mavericks make the dean’s and chancellor’s lists in the Fall 2022 semester!

In addition to all this, we expanded opportunities for paid internships for students, made headlines with cutting edge research, and built key partnerships with our community that will mean even more opportunities for Mavericks as we look ahead. I am inspired by your talents and dedication to fulfill our mission as an urban university.

I am also proud to see us starting 2023 strong with over 150 students, staff, faculty, alumni, and members of the community showing up to serve during the Martin Luther King, Jr Day of Service. As we move forward into this new year, I want to take a moment and say that I am glad you are here. We have an opportunity in front of us to not only carry last year’s momentum forward but to build upon it. Mavericks, I am so excited to see the amazing things we’re going to do this semester!

Also, as we start this new term, please remember to take care of yourself, your friends, and your loved ones! I just wanted to remind you that UNO is here to support you in a variety of ways.

For faculty and staff, this means that you can utilize our Faculty and Staff Employee Assistance Program (FSEAP), or take advantage of employee access to our Campus Recreation and Wellness services. 

For our students, you have resources available to you as well, like support from Wellness Coaches and other Resources managed through Campus Recreation and Wellness. Students can connect with mental health support 24 hours a day by calling 402.554.2409 and pressing #2.

In addition to these, for all Mavericks our Nebraska Medicine UNO Health Center; the Maverick Food Pantry; or any other number of resources are here to support your physical and mental health.

Mavericks, this is going to be an amazing year, I can feel it.

Welcome back!

Sincerely,

Joanne Li, Ph.D., CFA

Chancellor 

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