This is the fourth and final post in a series on the four University of Missouri values — Respect, Responsibility, Discovery, Excellence — and how they guide our mission as the state’s flagship, land-grant university.

We recently began our Summer Welcome sessions for new Tigers and are eagerly preparing for a full in-person return this August. But before we launch into our “new normal,” let’s celebrate all our community achieved throughout an unprecedented year.

During the 2020-21 academic year we awarded more than 8,000 degrees, announced critical collaborations with industry partners such as Thermo Fisher Scientific and broke ground on a new facility for the Sinclair School of Nursing. We completed the “Mizzou: Our Time to Lead” campaign with a record $1.41 billion and received the largest gift in the history of the College of Veterinary Medicine, among so many other accomplishments.

If we can do this much in a pandemic, I can’t wait to see what we achieve next.

Excellence at Mizzou can be found in many places, whether on Faurot Field, onstage at the Rhynsburger Theatre or in a lab at the Bond Life Sciences Center. It’s also embedded in how we treat one another, and it flourishes when everyone feels like they belong and can contribute their own voice and perspective.

In a difficult year, we still found ways to come together and do remarkable things. I can’t think of a better demonstration of our commitment to excellence in all its forms.

— Mun