Letter from the Chancellor

 
Dear Friends,

The past year was an extraordinary one for all of higher education. The onset of the recession and the decline of the markets had an impact on all of us, upending both institutional endowments and family finances. Colleges and universities dependent on endowment earnings suffered, as did tuition-dependent institutions with unstable enrollments. Institutions with heavy burdens of adjustable rate debt and limited liquidity were perhaps most threatened. We at the University of Denver were fortunate to be able to face this uncertain time from a position of considerable strength and flexibility, and last year was ultimately a very good one for our university. As is shown in this annual report, it was a year in which our enrollments held solid and the quality of our academic enterprise continued to improve, even as income from our endowment and other investments declined.

While we understand fully that it will take some time for the economy to rebalance itself and that the associated uncertainty will continue, we look forward to the coming years with great optimism. We have begun the current year (fiscal year 2010) very well, indeed. Times of challenge and change are also times of opportunity, particularly for institutions that are open-minded, agile and entrepreneurial. Those are certainly the attributes of our university.

Sincerely,

Robert D. Coombe