It was really great to have this opportunity 
today to meet with the 
Honors Council Advisory Committee. 
It's a new group, it's only three years old, and,
 yet, they've already accomplished some very big things. 
I really admire the fact that this group came in, 
rolled up their sleeves, said lets look at the challenges, 
the opportunities, that we face, and what can we 
do together to help the university move forward. 
I really appreciate that this group was
thinking not just about what we can do 
this year or the next few months, but they
were looking out 2, 3, 5, 10 years into the future
about what the Honors Program can 
become here at James Madison University,
and the idea of an Honors College is a 
great reflection of dreaming big, as you said,
which has been certainly a theme 
throughout the listening tour. 
Having attended Swarthmore college, 
which I chose because of its Honors Program, 
I know what a draw that can be for 
students who want to succeed at 
the very highest levels, who want
 to be challenged, intellectually and personally, 
and to interact with other people who 
have that same kind of dream and ambition. 
That, to me, is what we were talking about today, 
is how do we set the stage, so in the future, 
we can really build something that 
we are very excited about and proud of, 
that is uniquely our own, when it comes to an Honors Program;
and an Honors College would be 
a great way of doing that. 
It means resources, it means you've got to 
think strategically about faculty resources 
and space resources, and obviously drawing students 
and supporting students as well. 
But this group is prepared to ask those questions  
and to think strategically into the future, 
and that's where they can be helpful in 
making us dream big, together, and to think about 
how do we get there, how do we not just have the vision, 
but what steps do we need to take to achieve it, 
and that's what this group will help us do. 
