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Leslie Wong: When someone came to us
and said, "What do you think about
going home, and going back
to San Francisco State?"
And I thought that would be a pretty cool
thing to do.
Here I am at San Francisco State
where the university education is enabling
young people, students of color,
non-traditional students in one location
to benefit from an extremely powerful community
in a really high quality experience.
[laughter & chatter]
Phyllis: Hi, Phyllis Wong.
guest: Hi, it's so nice to meet you.
Leslie: It's good to reconnect.
I'm gonna devote my first year, I think,
to really understanding the campus,
and the rich complexity of perceptions
and motivations that are here.
There are so many different things
that San Francisco State is doing well.
It really behooves me to learn a lot
of those things so that I can become
an effective story teller.
One of the things that I look forward to
is honoring the tradition, and the activity,
of shared governance.
It means that I'm available and present
with faculty deliberations, student deliberations
and concerns, that I'm a capable listener,
effective listener.
Because in a lot of ways,
shared governance only works if the president
understands the multiple perspectives
that define a good university.
[chatter]
I hope the community of San Francisco State
University discovers the passion
that Phyllis and I have for student success.
You're gonna find us attending events all over campus.
I hope students believe that there
might be 4 of us cloned attending various things,
but in terms of student advocacy, student success,
and focusing in on the very fundamental fiber
of a great university like
San Francisco State University,
the first lady and I are going to be there
cheering students on, listening to them,
wanting to do what we can to help them
move closer to their educational goals.
Whether it's our curriculum, your work,
no matter how the state or the public
will say, "What in the world are you folks
doing down there?"
That the answer for me will always begin,
"Here's what students are learning
from the kinds of work that we do."
[applause]
