ROMÂNĂ 
ENGLISH VERSION 
It is my utmost delight to welcome all our returning and new students to the Opening Ceremony of the 2022-23 academic year. I also take this opportunity to welcome all our faculty members, staff, and supporters back from their summer vacation and respite. To all our students, I do not know your personal stories or the journey that leads you to Danubius University, but I know that all of you have one thing in common, you are here to better your life, you seek education that will make you a better contributor to society and to your family.
You have chosen Danubius University from among all the options available in hope that Danubius University would do its best to embrace you, nurture your dreams, educate you, and prepare you for the future that lays ahead of you.
I stand before you today in Galati, Romania far from my home in the United States, to extend to you that which good education has done for me. Good education is hard work, good education will stretch you. Good education requires your investment. Good education does not cheat, does not cut corners or look for the easy way out.
Those who put in the honest efforts reap the honest benefits because as my father told me as a young boy, “life will always pay you back in your own currency.”
As the new Rector of Danubius University, it is my responsibility to work with the institution to ensure that your trust in the University is not misplaced and your expectations are fulfilled and hopefully surpassed. To achieve our mutual interest of your academic success, you must do your part. I invite you today to set high expectations for yourself and for your professors. Expect to work hard because those who are searching for gold must learn to dig hard.
Those who expect easy grades or who want to earn their degrees in a dubious way may get the titles, but they will never have the intellectual substance or academic rigor to engage the world and rise to their fullest.
In addition, I am here to lend my expertise to make Danubius University a truly internationalized institution. I am here to join hands with the team to take the University to its next level of excellence, an institution that should be worthy of your pride and the pride of the people of Galati, Braila, Romania, and the Baltic region.
I am here to join you all to envision a new Danubius University, a resilient, progressive, and dynamic institution with the mission of producing leaders and workforce of the future.
With expansive experience across the globe, I come to Danubius University with a deep sense of what a university should be in society, and the roles of intellectuals in pursuit of truth, disseminating truth, debunking credulity, shattering myths, and expanding the frontier of knowledge. In the coming months, I will be working with the faculty toward curricular transformation that will make Danubius a truly unique experience and make our graduates stand out among their peers.
In closing, I welcome you all to become my teachers. If you speak Romanian language, teach me something wherever you see me, and I will always be grateful.
Thank you and have a successful academic year!
Dr. Steve O. Michael
Professor & Rector
