Rat-ta-ta-tat-tat; rat-ta-ta-tat; rat-ta-ta-tat-tat.

Over and over.

Sharp and clear, resounding throughout campus, sometimes a bit faster, sometimes a bit slower. As someone said, “The drumbeat is the true sound and sign of fall.”

The picture above is from my visit to Band Camp, where I joined 293 Fightin’ Blue Hen Marching Band members who are spending the week getting ready for their fall performances and next week’s official start of the semester. What a great way to start my day. As a kid, my only choice for music lessons was the piano, which I took for 4+ years. But I do love a trumpet, and I always dreamed of playing trumpet in a marching band. So — trumpet section — I’ll be listening extra intently to you whenever you play!

Most of us have already started the semester — with orientations, final syllabus and class preparations, training, readying for move-in, stocking up, and planning. For me, I love the sense of growing expectation and energy. I can’t wait for next week when we hold our Twilight Ceremony, where in addition to candles and the alma mater, you will hear the Marching Band. And I get to attend a sampling of first week classes.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all around campus.

Please take a moment and say hi when our paths cross.

Here is the latest from around the Beat

I want to thank you for all of the care and passion that you bring to your work, which is foundational to all that we do at UD. As indicated in a note from HR yesterday, non-represented staff members will receive a general salary increase of 2.5% to their base salaries effective September 1, 2026. These increases will appear in the September 15 pay.

Last fall, we held conversations and town halls that shaped the vision for OurUD and formed foundational input into strategic planning. Soon, we will launch the next strategic planning phase, with conversations around priorities, goals, strategies, and measures organized around nine working groups defined around our 9 declarations. The process will integrate existing priorities, survey results, campus conversations, and other work underway across the University into a unified strategic plan.

In the coming weeks, a new strategic planning website will outline the process, timeline, and ways to participate, and illustrate how these efforts collectively inform the University’s strategic direction. Stay tuned for ways to participate!

Thank you to all who participated in the Pulse Survey in May. We look forward to hosting Dr. Laurie Schreiner, the author of the Thriving Quotient, at the Board of Trustees retreat at the end of September. We will also be sharing University and unit data in conjunction with her visit.

Did you ever wonder what happens to extra food after an event? I am happy to announce that we are in the final phases of launching a free food app pilot. This program will alert our community when there is available free food after campus events. The app is a joint effort between UD Dining and Student Life. Be on the lookout, as the pilot will launch soon along with training for event hosts.

As an update, we will be planting this fall a 4” caliper Swamp White Oak from Halka Nurseries as a replacement for the oak tree we lost over the summer by Mentor’s Circle.

Yours in UD,