After more than a year of shifting university courses and programs online, we’ve learned a lot about what works, and what doesn’t work, in online format. I miss interacting with students in the classroom! I am also reflecting on how this experience created opportunities for new connections, what kinds of access are expanded or reduced, as well as the inequities of who gets to be (or be safe) in particular places and spaces.
To that point, I write this after recently receiving my first Covid-19 vaccine at Ford Field in downtown Detroit, a reminder of one of the ways that I benefit from living in this greater metro area. I hope the rest of you take advantage of that or other opportunities to protect yourself [See https://clinic.meijer.com/register/CL2021].
That was the very same day that Daunte Wright was killed by a police officer in a Minneapolis suburb -- with the trial of the officer who killed George Floyd as a backdrop. In June of 2020, URS faculty responded to Floyd’s death with this statement:
It is deeply disturbing to observe the ongoing violence against communities of color. Our program is committed to antiracism and to understanding the complex roots of such violence in political, economic, social, and cultural systems, as a basis for social change.
Our students’ ideas and accomplishments continue to remind me that such change is possible.
While we unfortunately cannot celebrate student success in person, we do so in this letter: Congratulations to Chelsea Hampton, our Honors Scholar for 2021! We also recognize the research efforts of Jon Quintal, Erie Nash, and Dale Browne in their work with Prof. Akers to track evictions and propose solutions to evictions in our region.
Keep up the great work, continue to inspire us, and stay safe,
Lara Rusch, PhD