2 March 2010
Staff and faculty, cadets, members of the West Point community, friends:
For the last 12 years, Joan and I have been blessed to be here at West Point, working with talented and dedicated people across this great institution, enjoying our times with cadets, and making lifelong friends. We will treasure our friends and great memories. Over the past year, we have considered new opportunities to continue serving others beyond West Point, and we have been very fortunate to find just such a chance.
I have accepted the position of President of Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, and will begin that job on July 1st. Joan and I will miss West Point, and especially the people who make this place so great, but we are looking forward very much to this next opportunity. I have felt that I had two “dream jobs” here, first as Professor and Head of the Department of Law and then as Dean, and have wondered how we could hope to come close to those experiences when we left West Point. Amazingly, we feel that this position is just that, another “dream job” opportunity. One of the things that attracted me most to Longwood is their mission (and they do call it a mission), which is to “transform young men and women into citizen leaders who contribute to the greater good.” We found many other parallels to what we do at West Point, including small classes where teachers take pride in knowing their students and caring about them as people, a commitment to the school and great sense of community among everyone we have met, and even Longwood’s Honor Code, which is mounted on the entrance wall of their library and states “We do not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do.” When you come visit us – and we truly hope you will – you’ll see why we are so excited about this new opportunity.
Between now and our departure, we will remain fully committed to West Point and seeing the Class of 2010 graduate and take their place in the Long Gray Line. We recognize how busy the next couple of months will be and one of our primary goals will be to ensure -- with help from many of you -- as seamless a transition as possible for the individual fortunate enough to be selected as the 13th Dean of the Academic Board. I have great confidence that the talented and dedicated faculty and staff will help make this possible.
There will be times and occasions to say farewell in the next few months. For now, Joan and I want to thank all of you for the tremendous support and assistance you have provided to West Point, to cadets, and to us personally. We will be forever grateful for the opportunity to have served with you at West Point and even more grateful for your abiding friendship, which we trust will continue wherever we are.
/s/
PATRICK FINNEGAN
Brigadier General, U.S. Army
Dean of the Academic Board
