Please see the following message sent today to our students from VP for Student Affairs Shelia Burkhalter. I appreciate Shelia’s initiative and the sentiments expressed to help guide our students to intentionally determine the environment they will ultimately experience here. The same goes for all of us as faculty, staff and administrators. Let’s renew our commitment to Winthrop’s mission, vision and values as we embark on this new academic year together. Thank you for all you do daily for our students!
Always an Eagle,
Edward
September 1, 2026
Dear Winthrop Eagles,
Each new academic year gives us an opportunity to begin again, to welcome new people, form new relationships, and recommit ourselves to the kind of community we want Winthrop to be.
We are a vibrant community of people from different backgrounds, identities, experiences, beliefs, and perspectives. We study different things, see the world differently, and imagine different futures. Yet we share something important: we chose Winthrop.
To our returning students, help our newest Eagles find their place here. Show them through your words and actions what it means to honor, support, and value one another.
Our Winthrop values call us to belonging, courage, free expression, open civil engagement, service, and excellence. Those commitments matter most when we disagree. We can challenge ideas, engage difficult issues, and speak with conviction while still recognizing the dignity and humanity of others.
Be kind. Season your communication with grace. Treat others with the respect, care, and dignity you would want extended to you.
We chose Winthrop. Now, each of us gets to choose what kind of Winthrop we create for one another.
That is not a one-time decision. It is a minute-by-minute, day-by-day choice reflected in how we speak, how we disagree, how we support one another, and whether we choose to see the humanity in others.
Let us live our Dedication for Excellence with intentionality and resolve. Be the person who helps us create a wonderful Winthrop for everyone.
With Eagle pride,
Shiggs
Shelia Higgs Burkhalter, MBA, MSEd
Vice President for Student Affairs
