This afternoon, President Hatch sent a message to all students, faculty, staff, and parents/families about the plans for the fall. Read the message here.
The message links to an updated version of ourwayforward.wfu.edu, where there is lots and lots to digest. I encourage you to dig through the site on your own. It will be helpful to go through all the sections and get the full picture of our plans for the fall.
And it is also important to acknowledge that college during COVID looks different than college in any other year. It requires adjustments and shifts in normal practice. There are moments of discomfort, leaps of faith, and compromises that we will all have to make. But I always believe in keeping the eyes on the prize about what there is to be gained:
Learning
Lifelong friendships
Critical thinking
Self Sufficiency
Resilience
Life-changing experiences
FUN
Don’t let COVID fool you: college will still be able to be fun.
I have friends who work at other schools and some of their fall solutions are quite different: only half of the student body can come back for the fall semester (and the other half learns online in the fall, then the groups switch for the spring); or only grad students and undergrads in certain majors can come back, and everyone else is online; or it is 100% of classes online with no resident students at all. Every school has to come to the solution that is best for their campus community, and I do not judge them for their plans. I simply want to say that I am profoundly grateful that Wake’s solution includes all our Deacs on campus.
We’ll make it work. And to make it work, it will take the commitment of all of us. As I have said before, a successful semester means that all of us will need to make smart choices all the time. But we will be together. And that is something extraordinary to celebrate.
Program note: our Call Center will be open Wednesday-Friday of this week between 10 am and 2 pm Eastern (336-758-7500), then we will remain closed as we focus on the work that is to be done between now and move-in. And there will be more details that emerge. Keep your eyes on the ourwayforward site, and particularly the key dates section, for more information as we continue to plan for the fall.
