Dear Falcon Family:
As we close in on the end of the Spring term, I want to encourage you to finish the semester strong. I know the past five weeks have been extremely difficult. COVID-19 has upended the way we live, work, and learn together to a degree none of us could have imagined. However, I want you to know I am so very proud of the way you have adapted, literally overnight, to new ways of learning, teaching and connecting with one another while separated from our campus home. Good luck with those final projects and exams, students. I have no doubt you will do exceptionally well.
Students, I am terribly sorry you have missed precious opportunities to live and learn together with your friends, classmates, faculty and staff. I know you miss gathering in the Falcon Center to celebrate achievements or to talk about the future. I am sorry you have missed the beauty of a Spring day on the Hill and the chance to take a well-deserved afternoon respite on the quad. And, I am sorry you have not been able to work, in person, side by side with your incredible professors and mentors – to perfect your skills, enjoy their company, and soak in their wisdom.
This is a tough time for all of us. We, the faculty, staff, and administration miss seeing you; we miss seeing each other. We miss your energy, your enthusiasm, your creativity, and your laughter. We miss sharing your passion to make a difference and your commitment to living a life of consequence.
Despite what we have lost this spring, I also want us to recognize what we have gained. We have come together to form new and even stronger bonds. We have demonstrated our resiliency, our resolve, our ingenuity, and our capacity for compassion. We have come to value the importance of our shared humanity and the need to lift up one another. We have grown as leaders in our communities. We have not been paralyzed or discouraged by a menacing unknown. We have kept the faith and beaten fear by action!
And, we are grateful for the selfless exploits of others. I want us to continue to remember there are many Falcons – students, faculty, staff, and alumni – who are gallantly fulfilling their roles during this crisis as first responders, as health care workers, as educators and social workers, in food services, and in numerous other essential capacities. They are all deserving of our gratitude, our support, and our prayers.
Before I leave you to prepare for your final tasks of the semester, I want to thank you for your flexibility, your patience, your grace, your efforts, and sacrifice. My gratitude extends to all our #OneFalconFamily – students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends.
There may still be some challenging days ahead, but I know that together, we are more than equal to the test. Why? Because #WeAreOneFalconFamily.
May God keep you all safe and healthy.