The American campus is a unique, dynamic environment that requires, in its planning and usage, a balance between change and continuity — and reflects in its architecture the institution’s character.

Each September, I tell first-year students about the three things that make Seton Hall a successful university: well-maintained facilities, challenging academic programs and, ultimately, excellent people who make a difference. The “physical plant” is the least important of the three, but it still has an enormous impact on all who work, study and visit here. From colonial days through the early years of this century, American universities have hewn closely to what Thomas Jefferson famously termed the “academical village.” This campus tradition defines the relationship between ideas and physical environments in a way that looks outward rather than inward, that brings students and professors together as a whole community invested in learning.

Prospective students and parents, and alumni visitors, too - whom we welcome to our campus throughout the year - take with them impressions of this University based, to a greater or lesser degree, on what Seton Hall looks like and feels like. Are the classrooms inviting, the labs properly equipped? Is the recreation center open and well-lit? Are the lawns trimmed and green? Over the past 25 years I have enjoyed visiting other universities, looking at buildings, seeing what the campus itself says about the mission and vision of that university. I scrutinize our own campus the same way. I have made it a priority of my presidency at Seton Hall to reshape and enhance our physical setting.

We have a limited amount of space to work with in South Orange, only 59 acres of land bordered by urban and suburban streets. On any given day during the academic year, thousands of people walk across the Green that today has the look of a park. At the Sesquicentennial Birthday Bash last year, nearly every square inch of the outdoor space was used and appreciated.

Over the past decade we have spent $29 million in deferred maintenance, and we plan to spend another $16 million in the next five years to improve campus infrastructure, including athletic facilities. Our Ever Forward capital campaign is funding the restoration and expansion of key facilities: $35 million for the state-of-the-future Science and Technology Center; a $25 million price tag on the reconstruction of the University Center; for Stafford Hall a $7 million reconstruction project; and $2.5 million for the restoration - really the transformation - of our venerable Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, a sanctuary for people of all faiths in the heart of the campus.

A quick survey of our grounds - from Alfieri Hall to Walsh Library - reveals that every building serves a vital need in the learning that happens at Seton Hall. The School of Law, now more than a half-century old, is housed in one of the most attractive contemporary buildings in downtown Newark, a symbol of our committed partnership with the city and its people. Facilities are urgently important, but they serve an end beyond themselves. All of our facilities - including the power plant and the castle like gate house just inside the Farinella Gates, the residence halls and administration buildings - exist to house the programs of which we are so proud and the people who make it all happen: our students and professors.

Seton Hall’s distinctive character, in our people and on our campus, has endured over time and changed with the times. Our mission as an institution of higher education has thrived for 150 years. For those who follow in the coming century, we shall preserve this special place — from which we look outward, from which we send confident leaders and thinkers to imprint our stamp of faith-infused learning upon the landscape of the larger world.