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Dear Marshall Students,
Welcome back! I hope you had an enjoyable, safe, and restful Winter Break, and are ready for a fantastic Winter Quarter! I am writing this before the break and I have to be honest, things are looking pretty bleak from a pandemic perspective. We are still doing quite well on campus, but we could do better. I am hopeful that the release of the vaccines will help us to turn a corner on this thing by the time we are all back though! I think we learned a great deal from Fall Break and its aftermath. If you go home for Winter Break, we’ve learned that it’s very important to get tested repeatedly as soon as you get back! It is the nature of this disease, unfortunately, that it is easily spread by people who either never will have symptoms, or people who don’t have symptoms yet. Because of that, it’s important to not wait to get tested, even if you and everyone you saw over break feels ok. If we get tested frequently (I’m getting tested weekly, and I’m not even on campus), following guidelines on masking and distance, and getting vaccinated when it’s available, I’m convinced that we can beat this thing. I’m sure all of you are as eager to get back to being on campus as I am, and halting the pandemic is critical for doing that.
I’m really excited to tell you about a class opportunity that is happening this quarter. Professor Wendy Matsumura from History is going to be teaching a course on the history of Marshall College. Professor Matsumura is an expert on social movements, and I had the pleasure of hearing her talk about this class recently. It sounds really exciting to me. Students in the class will get the chance to talk with Marshall’s founding faculty and alumni, and to explore the information available in the University’s archive and elsewhere about the history of the college. And, they’ll be able to contribute to an updating of the written history of the college, which hasn’t been done in the last 30 years. If you are at all interested in learning more about Marshall’s history, connecting with some extremely interesting faculty and alumni, and contributing to the celebration of Marshall’s 50th, I encourage you to check out TMC 198 with Professor Matsumura. For more information visit the Marshall 50th Anniversary website.
Another 50th Anniversary event to look out for is our org fair for the health disparities initiative. We are hoping to have representation from both on campus and off campus organizations that work to address health disparities, and you’ll be able to get information about opportunities to partner with them. This is a great chance to find opportunities to volunteer and make a difference in the community. This will be a virtual org fair that you can drop in at any time (not zoom), and it should be available for the first few weeks of the quarter. As I am writing this, we are finalizing plans for orgs to include, virtual “location” etc., but by the time you are reading it, there should be more information available, also on the Marshall 50th website.
Best,
Provost Carver |
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