As we say goodbye to 2023 and move into the beginning of the new year, I want to say how grateful I am for our faculty, staff, students, Board of Trustees, and community members and for what College of the Redwoods has been able to accomplish together this year.

College of the Redwoods has embraced its complexity and answered the charge to become a nimble and responsive organization. I can recount many successes that we have achieved and the initiatives that we have started over the past year.

CR athletics put together a fantastic fall. Our football team ended a successful season with a 63-0 win over Hartnell College in the 2023 Grizzly Bowl and had ten players earn All PAC-7 honors. In their inaugural season, our wrestling team, under new Head Coach Brandon Benvenuti and Assistant Coach Kaci Lyle, finished fourth out of the ten teams competing in the Northern California Regionals and had seven wrestlers qualify to compete in the state championship.

This fall we redoubled our efforts to strengthen our relationship with our Tribal partners. Cal Poly Humboldt and College of the Redwoods entered into an agreement with the Hoopa Tribe that will enhance the student learning experience with wraparound services to bolster success, build effective leaders with skills to address the challenges facing the tribe, strengthen the workforce for future clean energy jobs, and support regional sustainable and regenerative agriculture efforts. CR and the Bear River Rancheria leadership have reached an understanding to construct a baseball field on the Bear River Rancheria. This new field, along with the existing softball field, will serve as the home base for both our men's baseball and women's softball teams. CR and the Wiyot Tribe have agreed to explore the idea of designating some land on the Eureka Campus for a Wiyot Tribe sweat lodge, teepee, prayer circle, medicine wheel, and other traditional spaces. It would be a place for ceremony, education, and ritual, forming a connection to CR’s Outdoor Campus Collaborative project.

On the academic side, we ended the fall semester with a public commitment to develop several new healthcare related degree pathways including Healthcare Navigation/Patient Care Coordination, Personal Wellness Training, Psychiatric Technician, Respiratory Therapy, and Surgical Technician. These new offerings will go a long way towards meeting the workforce needs of our healthcare partners. I look forward to collaborating with our colleagues at Providence, Mad River, and Open Door to develop an implementation plan that meets our collective interests.

Moving forward, our response to the economic and educational needs of our community will extend beyond healthcare. Soon after the beginning of the New Year, we will explore the efficacy of an associate degree in Engineering Technology/Pre-Engineering. We will discuss whether a potential baccalaureate degree supports our strategic vision documented in our Education Master Plan. We will also focus on how we can help students succeed, make education more accessible, and boost our workforce development curriculum.

As we continue our work this next year, we need to place more emphasis on issues that impact our broad community, from diversity, equity, and mental health to ensuring safety and fostering an environment that encourages the free expression of ideas, regardless of personal beliefs or viewpoints. I believe that an important part of our work must focus on recognizing the humanity within ourselves and others, and most importantly, strive to consciously support and inspire each other. This echoes my convocation address at the beginning of the 2023 school year. I am encouraged by the progress the College has made in the past year towards these important goals, and I have no doubt that our efforts will only accelerate in 2024.