As a Catholic, Vincentian and Metropolitan university, we at St. John’s are committed to academic excellence and to the pursuit of wisdom that flows from free inquiry, religious values and human experience. The translation of knowledge into meaningful human experience is vital to our mission. St. John’s made great strides this year in strengthening its administrative and academic infrastructure to ensure that our students will contribute their natural talents nurtured here to creating a better world. The result of our efforts and those of our students, faculty and staff is that St. John’s is increasingly recognized as an academic leader in the forefront of social issues, addressing and providing solutions for the critical global concerns of poverty and social justice. We were honored to achieve placement on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for our 2007 activities. The Honor Roll, which is a joint project of several Federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education, the Corporation for National and Community Service and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, recognizes institutions of higher education that support innovative, effective and exemplary community service programs.