Message from the Director
Howdy,
I hope you and your family are in good health and that this horrible pandemic has had minimal impact on you, your family and friends. There are two very nasty words in our current vocabulary and they are COVID-19 and Coronavirus. Wow! This pandemic has changed the world. It has shifted how we work and will have a great impact on how we approach work in the future.
The shelter-in-place order has just been lifted and we are still working from home until the university has decided how safe we are in easing our way back to the office. I’m sure you are having similar experiences. Our heart goes out to all who have lost jobs or been furloughed and hope restarting the economy will not increase our pandemic numbers and shift progress. This is truly a strange time.
Since the second week of March, we have not seen our students in person. We miss them. So we have shifted to the next best thing, Zoom. Shifting meeting from in-person to meeting virtually has become our common practice. We are able to meet students where they are, whether in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta or as far away as Hong Kong…evenBug Tussle, OK. Well, we don’t know if one of our students is actually from there, but if they were, we would connect!
We have selected our new leadership for next year, planned and executed an awards ceremony on Family Weekend, and conducted a transition retreat—all virtually. We have had our last Board of Directors meetings as our 71st Officer Team is now in place. We have had to say good-bye to our graduating seniors and those who are transitioning their leadership experiences on campus, again, all virtually. It has not been easy, but our staff and students have risen to the occasion and demonstrated their great strength and adaptability. Sadly, we will have to delay our hugs and tears of separation for a later date, just as our graduating seniors will have to delay their walk across the stage.
Over the spring semester, we have had to cancel or reschedule 39 programs. As a result, our staff and students have been able to produce over 20 very creative alternate programs in order to give our patrons some unique experiences. What we have come to realize is when we stream these virtual programs, former students, friends, and families also have the opportunity to be a part of them.
Allow me to proudly share some examples:
- The MSC Visual Arts Committee showcased the work of student artists in the annual ArtFest in the Reynolds Gallery.
- MSC SCONA produced programs with the Bush School’s Scowcroft Institute on Countering Biological Threats.
- Town Hall facilitated virtual bingo games
- MSC Abbott Leadership Conference conducted a virtual conference over a two-day period.
- Two TEDxTAMU Salons were produced
- The traditional Mr. FLO was recorded and streamed
- Other large scale programs such as the MSC Wiley Lecture Series were unfortunately postponed to the fall along with MSC Town Hall’s Ben Rector Concert.
We are learning many lessons on how to adapt and our students and staff have really stepped up to meet the challenge. I’m very proud of them.
As we look forward to opening the campus in the fall, we hope to see you at our football tailgates and hope all the nearly 10,000 who have committed to coming to Texas A&M will join us as well. We know this has been a hardship for many of you; we want you to know how much we have appreciated your support of our program and students over the years. As we look forward to brighter days, we know we can count on your support as you have done for so many years.
Once again, thank you for the time, treasures and talents you have given to support our mission—this is truly what makes Texas A&M unique. We tell our students the university gives to them for 4-5 years and even longer for some, Then it is their job to give back the rest of their lives—just as you have done and those who have come before you. We thank you!
Gig’em and Stay Healthy,
Luke J. Altendorf
MSC Director