Just last month, APUS honored some 2,800 students who successfully completed their degree programs.  The ceremony was a very nice one and the excitement of the students who attended was obvious.  Fast on the heels of such exuberance, however, is the daunting task of locating jobs for those who were not already employed as many of our students are.  Across the nation, many recent college graduates are finding it increasingly difficult to find a job.

The global economic crisis is certainly no secret.  It has remained one of the most prominent headlines in American newspapers and on news programs for at least the last couple of years.  As recent college graduates are finding out, the economic crisis is having a dramatic effect on companies and entire industries in which many were hoping to find jobs after graduating.

In April, the most recent month for which data is available, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate rose from 8.5 percent to 8.9 percent, increasing the number of unemployed persons in the United States to 13.7 million.  As companies find themselves struggling to meet the financial restraints placed on them by a dwindling economy, many have announced significant layoffs in recent months.  As the New York Times reported in a January 27 article, 62,000 jobs were cut by U.S. and foreign companies on January 26 alone.  Some of the most significant layoffs occurred at Caterpillar (20,000 jobs lost), Sprint Nextel (8,000 jobs lost), and Texas Instruments (3,400 jobs lost).  Interestingly, the article predicted that the unemployment rate would peak at 8.3 percent by 2010.  Considering April’s unemployment numbers, it is easy to see that the economic downturn has taken its toll on employment and will likely continue to do so for some time.

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This Sunday, June 14, is Flag Day.  On June 14, 1777 Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the United States of America.  For more than 100 years after that date, however, there was no official holiday to commemorate the flag and its significance. 

Bernard J. Cigrand, a young teacher working at the Stoney Hill School near Fredonia, Wisconsin, began the process that eventually led to the recognition of June 14 as Flag Day.  In 1885, on the anniversary of the adoption of the flag, Cigrand placed a small (ten inches) flag with 38 stars in an inkwell on his desk and then assigned his students to write an essay explaining what the flag meant to them.  Upon the completion of the assignment, however, Cigrand continued to advocate for the adoption of a holiday to observe the significance of the flag. 

Others mimicked Cigrand’s sentiment in the late 1800s, perhaps as a means of assisting in the Americanization of the country’s immigrant children.  In 1889, for example, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City planned activities for his students to recognize the flag on June 14.  Soon after, the State Board of Education of New York adopted Flag Day as a holiday to be observed by all public schools in the state.  Two years later, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia held a Flag Day celebration and the following year the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution officially observed Flag Day.  In 1893, Dr. Edward Brooks, then Superintendent of Public Schools of Philadelphia endorsed a resolution that would allow school children in that city to celebrate Flag Day.

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When our communications staff suggested that I begin a blog, I had major reservations about starting it.  I found a website that tracks blogs written by college and university presidents and I took a look at a few of them to see what type of communication was published and how often.  I also sent an email to other presidents who had attended Harvard’s New Presidents seminar with me in 2005.  A number of them weighed in on the pros and cons of initiating a blog.  As you might imagine, a few were active blog writers, a few had started a blog and cancelled the initiative, and most had not attempted to write a blog.

With more than a little trepidation, I ventured into the unknown and launched it last year.  For the most part, writing pieces for the blog has been fun.  When I get busy or suffer from writer’s block, I find it difficult to publish at a consistent pace.  Recently, I thought about what I could do to make the blog more relevant and more current.  I decided that I would try to write more often but with less verbiage.   Hopefully, that provides more people with a perspective about what I am thinking about and talking about.  If you have any thoughts or ideas on topics, feel free to send them my way.  After the end of July, let me know what you think about my new style.  Thanks.