I'm proud to tell you that UNT had a historic summer, attracting more than $51 million in landmark gifts and a stadium sponsorship that will propel us forward. The gifts include a $22 million pledged gift from entrepreneur Charn Uswachoke ('73 M.B.A.), which is the largest in UNT's history, and longtime benefactor Paul Voertman's $8 million bequest. The gifts will foster student learning and faculty scholarship while furthering UNT's reputation for cutting-edge research and world-class arts and music. Apogee's $20 million naming sponsorship for UNT's new stadium helps usher in a new era. I hope to see fans filling the stands all season long at Apogee Stadium, starting with our first home game Sept. 10 and at Homecoming Oct. 22, which includes festivities all week.

Thanks to these milestones, our own fiscal prudence and the better-than-expected outcome from Texas' 82nd Legislative Session, we have renewed optimism for the future. We are making investments to enhance our students' educational experience and keep up with growth, from setting aside more financial aid and scholarship dollars to improving our classrooms to hiring more faculty and lecturers.

You can see our progress everywhere. Our new state-of-the-art Business Leadership Building is a great example of how technology and collaboration enhance students' learning. Join us Sept. 22 for the grand opening.

These investments are essential. More students than ever are attending UNT, including a freshman class that is expected to be our largest and one of our best qualified. Our students are poised to do great things. And we promise to give them a superior education so that their time here is defined by excellence. Our students deserve the best and that is why it is so important for us to achieve our goal of being a public research university offering the best undergraduate education in Texas.