Dear Southwestern community,
Considering just how unusual this year has been thus far, I should not have been surprised when I looked out my window last weekend and saw three inches of snow in central Texas. Like the snowflakes blowing in the wind, at times it feels as though the ground is constantly shifting under our feet and that information and current events are flowing from a never-ending tap. While many of us breathed a sigh of relief as we said farewell to 2020, the New Year has dawned with enormous challenges.
We are just days away from the start of our spring semester. Along with our faculty and staff, I am awaiting the arrival of students on campus. We cannot wait to greet you—from a safe distance and with masks on, of course.
Like you, I have concerns and am anxious about what currently confronts us as an institution and a country: a pandemic, a recession, a fractured and violent political culture, a reckoning with our tragic national history on race, and a true sense of loss for a feeling of community. Our educational mission and our core values of excellence, respect, and the pursuit of justice and the common good are more vital than ever before and will lead us into a more promising and hopeful future. I worry about the seismic changes occurring in education. The pandemic has cost higher education billions of dollars in lost revenue that can never be realized or rerouted to aid students. The imminent collapse of colleges of all shapes and sizes, both public and private, has been on the horizon for decades and will become a national crisis in the immediate future. Ironically, to invest in higher education right now just might prevent the next pandemic, but that’s not part of any national strategy.
The pandemic has reached new and increasingly treacherous heights in recent weeks, with a record number of deaths being recorded in Texas and in the nation. This week we had the honor of hosting one of the world’s leading experts in tropical medicine and vaccine development, Peter Jay Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., who addressed our community in a
virtual presentation. Dr. Hotez was gracious in his praise of Southwestern and provided deep insights into what we can expect in terms of the COVID-19 vaccine. As Dr. Hotez pointed out, the logistics for delivery and distribution of this vaccine is very complicated, but essential. In December, departing from CDC recommendations, Texas did not include teachers in the first two phases of the state’s vaccine distribution plan. There is currently a great push for teachers to be included in the third group, or Phase 1C. If you fall within 1A and 1B guidelines, I urge you to review the
Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) website for further information. Although Williamson County has not yet received vaccines, you can monitor the
DSHS website for updates on vaccine hub providers in Georgetown.
The University is constantly refining its COVID operations after a semester’s worth of experience. To date, there has been no transference of COVID from students to faculty or staff. We remain committed to keeping our campus safe. We have learned a great deal about how to live, work, and learn together during the pandemic, and I believe refinements to our practices from the fall will make for a smoother spring. Our protocols for the spring semester are similar to those of the fall with some important exceptions. All faculty, staff, and students who will be on campus are being tested prior to the start of the semester, and all students taking classes on campus are being tested upon arrival. Our randomized testing has been greatly increased, with 600 students being tested on a weekly basis. Our athletes have additional protocols which our coaches and athletic director have communicated to them.
During the first week of the semester, faculty will have the option of teaching in-person or virtually. We will continue to monitor the situation and allow flexibility as warranted by the conditions on campus and in the local area. Let me assure you that all of our staff on campus, especially our facilities, custodial, and housekeeping staff, are doing their utmost to keep our campus safe. Details of our health protocols and testing regime can be found on our
website.
As previously communicated, our two athletic conferences have established reduced sport schedules and stringent testing protocols. The NCAA established guidelines that have been accepted by the conferences. Southwestern has added a second layer of protections to these guidelines by implementing additional testing for athletes in competitive play. There will be no spectators at indoor games with the exception of director of athletics Glenn Schwab and myself. The university is currently considering the possibility of allowing a very limited number of spectators at outdoor sporting events not taking place on campus. We will continue to update you as the situation unfolds.
I remain optimistic about where our community and our university are as we start the spring term. We are anticipating our largest spring enrollment in history, although we have continued to de-densify our residence halls. I am incredibly proud of how everyone has pulled together with great focus and determination to succeed. With our present circumstances stable despite the pandemic, we are thinking ahead, not just to next year, but to the next five years. Applications for next fall’s class are extremely strong, especially relative to national trends, with our total applications down just 3% percent (the national average is 18%), and our early decision applications are up nearly 500%. The combination of those two factors have resulted in an increase in deposits over last year, and we are confident that we will meet or exceed our target for the incoming class next fall.
We will start the spring semester by recognizing the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through our
MLK Week programming. On February 4, we will honor the achievements of our 2021 Southwestern University Alumni Association award recipients at our Distinguished Alumni Awards Presentation. In a first-ever event, we will host a Virtual Homecoming April 11–18 featuring a menu of engagement opportunities for you to connect with your favorite Pirates and learn more about the Southwestern you love. Finally, we will honor the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021 with an in-person event to celebrate the completion of their degrees on May 8.
Welcome back, Pirates!
Sincerely,
