Marquette President Kimo Ah Yun on Wednesday, Nov. 12, addressed nearly 500 members of the campus community in the AMU Monaghan Ballrooms in his first Presidential Address. The president took the stage following a performance by the university’s Gospel Choir.
The event, in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, was underpinned by an Open Your Heart Food Drive to benefit the Backpack Program, Marquette’s on-campus food pantry that provides groceries and necessary toiletries to any student who is having difficulty accessing affordable, nutritious food and other essential household items. Marquette community members donated 912 pounds of food items.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, President Ah Yun expressed gratitude for the many people doing great work across campus, especially the faculty and staff dedicated to transforming students’ lives.
President Ah Yun throughout his address underscored the importance of Marquette staying grounded in its Catholic, Jesuit mission, vision and values. Emphasizing this, a brief video titled “I Have Called You Friends” illustrated this year’s mission theme of the same name.
In his speech, President Ah Yun reflected on his first year in office; highlighted areas of “Marquette Momentum;” discussed the ongoing challenges in higher education and how the university intends to address the results of the recent Campus Climate Study; and provided an update on how the university will invest in its Marquette 2031 strategic plan, Guided by Mission, Inspired to Change.
He identified three priorities for investment as part of the strategic plan: ongoing improvements to faculty and staff compensation; an enrollment strategy to expand into new markets; and the university’s next fundraising campaign, which will emphasize scholarships and endowed faculty chairs. These initiatives require the university to continue the work of Securing Our Future to generate funds to re-invest in the university.
“When I think about what we do, the question is, who are we? What do we emphasize? I unequivocally and unabashedly say we are a student-centered university. We exist to serve our students, first and foremost. We cannot be a university without our students, and the thousands of students we graduate each year become individuals that are going out and serving.”
President Kimo Ah Yun | Nov. 12, 2025
Following are excerpts from the speech, which can be viewed in its entirety via the Marquette Wire.
On his first year in office…
“It’s been a year since I was named president, and when I go around, I continue to be impressed with all that we have accomplished together. But more importantly, I’m grateful for what we will continue to accomplish, because I know the best is yet to come. We stand in a pathway of people who came before us who did great things. What they did was set up the conditions to allow us to go even further.”
On “Marquette Momentum”…
“What we know is that we have it better at Marquette than what many other institutions are facing right now because we’re thoughtful, reflective and are making the types of changes and investments in the right places.”
“When you think about where we are as a university and Marquette Momentum, I think about community service and how that is on the rise. I think about enrollment and applications. I just received a text from [Vice President for Enrollment Management] Brian Troyer today that said we’re about 6.4% up in applications this year than we were last year, and last year was a high over the last decade. People outside of our university are seeing this momentum and want to be part of this great thing we have.”
On the Campus Climate Study…
“Even though we have momentum and even though we have great things happening, every organization, including Marquette, has spots where we have to stop, reflect and say, ‘Are we doing enough?’ For those of you who are aware, have read or are a part of the Campus Climate Study, you’ll understand that we have some work to do. There are some good things, but there are some growth opportunities as well.”
On the ongoing challenges in higher education…
“One of the things I really enjoy is going to Washington, D.C., because we need to make our case to politicians about everything that is happening right now. I talk to them about research and research funding — how, when we are threatened, it impacts us … I say, ‘What can we do to be able to continue to ensure we have access so that faculty here and faculty across the country can continue to do research?’ If we are going to continue to be internationally competitive, if we are to continue finding breakthroughs, we need to make sure we find the funding for research lines so that we can do that work, and especially do that work in partnership with our students.”
“I talk about the value of a four-year education — especially a Catholic, Jesuit education — because there are questions about whether or not that’s of value anymore. There’s no doubt when you look at any of the data, any of the metrics — a Catholic, Jesuit education at a four-year university contributes to society, and more importantly, the world.”
On the Marquette 2031 strategic plan…
“We can never forget our purpose, and that’s why I was so thankful when we made the next strategic plan, Guided by Mission, Inspired to Change. We know what our north star is. We know what we are guided to do.”
“We offer the opportunity for students to find their compass. We offer the opportunity to think about ethical thinking every day and figure out how to put that into their life on a regular basis. But when we move forward, we know that we can’t do that alone, so we’ll continue to recruit talented faculty who are able to do this work with us and for us. We will grow high-impact practices because we know that’s key to success – internships, working with faculty on research, giving our students experiential learning.”…
“We can never forget our purpose, and that’s why I was so thankful when we made the next strategic plan, Guided by Mission, Inspired to Change. We know what our north star is. We know what we are guided to do.”
“We offer the opportunity for students to find their compass. We offer the opportunity to think about ethical thinking every day and figure out how to put that into their life on a regular basis. But when we move forward, we know that we can’t do that alone, so we’ll continue to recruit talented faculty who are able to do this work with us and for us. We will grow high-impact practices because we know that’s key to success – internships, working with faculty on research, giving our students experiential learning.”
“The Examen calls for gratitude and it ends with hope,” President Ah Yun said. “I am hopeful because of all the things that I see on our campus. I am hopeful because of all the work the faculty, staff, students and alumni are doing.”
