Dear Colleagues,
It was one year ago today that we went home after a day’s work on campus, not knowing what lay ahead. For most of us, that was the last time we met in person with our students, colleagues, and friends. When the virus was declared a pandemic, none of us understood exactly what it would mean; neither for our personal lives nor for our work. None of us could have imagined that we would endure this epidemic for over a year with a loss of half a million lives. We grieve with those who have lost loved ones and we empathize with those who are still suffering. Our lives and our world have changed forever in ways we could have never foreseen.
But as we look forward there is now light in the midst of this darkness creating hope for a new beginning and a new journey ahead. We are fortunate to have three very effective vaccines and perhaps more will be approved in due course. There have been further advances in medicine and public heath that will serve us and future generations for decades ahead. We continue to learn and adapt to our fluid world.
There have also been advances in our social world. Attention to and strategies for addressing racialized inequities in health, housing, and education are being addressed with a new sense of urgency at the national, state and local levels. Closer to home, even while apart, we have come together to serve our students and one another in the best way we know how, with compassion and care.
Today, I thank you for what has been a heroic effort to live our purpose, mission, and vision this past year. This has not been easy. Though we continue to face challenges, I am very hopeful that soon we will be together and engaged in ways more typical to us, honoring what we have lost but looking forward with renewed energies, hope and ingenuity for the betterment of all people.
In peace, reflection, and solidarity,
Tina