Spalding University President Tori Murden McClure sent the following message to the campus community on Monday, March, 29, 2021:
Dear Spalding Community,
What a year it has been. I am extremely grateful for your dedication, cooperation, and fortitude as we endured the past twelve months. Last week, we announced that we will have a series of in-person Commencement ceremonies in June. I know many of you are wondering what our classes and campus operations will look like in Fall 2021.
Thanks to the increasing availability of highly effective vaccines, I am pleased to say that Spalding University plans to have the majority of its classes in-person next fall. By early August, I expect that most of the faculty and staff will return to our offices for the majority of the work week. The year has taught me, that Spalding University is not housed in buildings. It exists in the minds and the hearts of our students, staff, and faculty. Nonetheless, the University thrives when we are together. Kindness blooms. Friendships grow. We cultivate gratitude and respect toward one another. We challenge one other to live with courage and with integrity in our ever changing world.
As we reimagine how we work and study together, I hope we will consciously rearrange our spaces to foster collaboration, innovation, and healthy human interaction. I attribute much of our success in the last twelve months to our having built a strong and supportive mission-driven culture prior to the start of the pandemic. In recent weeks, I have noticed a diminution of our cohesion. When we lose touch with one another, it is more difficult to live and breathe the mission of Spalding. In our mostly virtual year, there has been less spontaneity, less humanity, and less fun. There is a great deal of learning, coaching, and mentoring that happens in all directions when we are together.
Many of us will benefit from increasing our work-life or school-life separation. This year, we have not been working from home so much as living at work. Without the natural boundaries of space and time, it has been difficult to turn-off, to relax, to spend time with family or friends without unfinished work intruding on our thoughts and leaving us with a breathless hunted feeling.
I am excited. I have missed the brainstorming and raucous good cheer that happens over lunch in the Spalding Café. I look forward to quicker communication and fewer misunderstandings as we return to being able to speak to one another in person. New and continuing students will begin class registration on April 12. All students are encouraged to speak with their advisors about their classroom needs and to make the course selections that best meet their goals and academic program requirements.
To ensure that next school year is as safe and successful as possible, we strongly encourage each of you to get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you are eligible. Governor Beshear announced last week that he expects all Kentuckians 16 years and older to be able to sign up for vaccines starting April 12. Let’s continue to work together to finish this year safely. Please get vaccinated when you can. Greater days are ahead.
All the best,
Tori
Tori Murden McClure
President, Spalding University