Dear Mercy College Community,
I’m old enough to remember where I was when President Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were each assassinated (in the second and sixth grades). I was teaching a constitutional law class at the University of Mississippi Law School on 9/11. Already, I suspect we’ll always remember what was going on in our lives when the COVID-19 turned into a pandemic in the spring of 2020. Whether we are students or staff or faculty at Mercy College, our lives have been altered in hundreds of ways because of the coronavirus.
After briefly closing our campuses last week, Mercy’s classes have resumed mostly online, like the classes at most colleges and universities in New York. I’m hearing generally good reports from faculty and students about this experience. A large majority of the College’s staff are telecommuting at present, as we try to respect medical advice about creating more “social distance.” Certain essential personnel continue to come to our campuses, but we encourage everyone to maintain some distance from other members of our community. People who come to my office to talk sit across the room. It feels strange, but it’s necessary.
It’s been astonishing to me how rapidly developments have occurred. Last Tuesday (March 10), we decided to move classes online beginning this week. We followed the lead of many of our peers who, at the time, planned to re-evaluate that decision at the end of March. Over the past several days, however, institutions joining us online are more regularly indicating that this arrangement will continue through the end of the semester. Between last week and this week it is increasingly clear that COVID-19 will not be going away over the next few weeks. Accordingly, we too are now announcing that the move to online courses will continue at least until the end of the spring terms.
The College is having to make dozens of new decisions virtually every day. As we do so, we pay close attention to what we are hearing from local, state, and federal health authorities and to what most of our higher education peers are doing. We are having regular conversations with the Westchester Department of Health and with other private colleges in the state. As new members of the community test positive for COVID-19, we continue to follow the advice of local health authorities about whom we should be notifying. This advice focuses attention on the people in direct contact with those who tested positive for the virus. Please join me in wishing these members of our community well on their way to recovery.
What I can’t tell you right now is how long COVID-19 will continue to disrupt our normal practices at Mercy College. We’re making plans for the summer and fall semesters already, preparing to continue online if necessary or return to face-to-face classes if possible. The College is laboring to make sure our students’ educational journeys are not delayed any more than absolutely necessary.
What I can tell you is that the Mercy community is resilient and strong. Though the coming weeks may bring hardship and loss, I’m confident that the UNSTOPPABLE Mercy family will rally together to support one another, to care for each other, and to work together to support the enduring and life-changing work of learning.
Sincerely,
Tim Hall
President