Spring has sprung in Bloomington, Indiana, turning our thoughts to endings and new beginnings. It’s hard to believe that a full academic year has passed since we sent the fall newsletter. We had a busy faculty recruitment season, allowing us to welcome two outstanding colleagues to our department: Koji Chavez and Byungkyu Lee. Pamela Jackson, our director of undergraduate studies, oversaw the establishment of an undergraduate sociology club, WOKE. Thanks to the hard work of the Graduate Admissions Committee and our director of graduate studies, Jennifer Lee, by the time you receive this newsletter, our fall 2018 cohort will have been finalized. We have much to look forward to!

Yet even as spring orients us to the future, we take time to reflect on the past year’s accomplishments. We will soon honor our ever-impressive graduate students at the annual Graduate Awards Ceremony, celebrate our graduating seniors at the Undergraduate Tea, and accompany our graduating Ph.D.s as they receive their doctoral hoods. As we do, we will remember those of you who are members of our extended Bloomington community.

This newsletter issue turns the spotlight on you, featuring an extensive alumni news section. We plan to make this an annual feature so, if you missed your chance to update us this year, you will have another opportunity soon. We look forward to seeing those of you who attend the American Sociological Association meetings later this summer, and welcome visits from any and all, if your travels bring you to Bloomington!