Dear Lurie College Students —
We hope that your first days of class were a success and that you are looking forward to new opportunities and learning experiences during the semester ahead. We know that taking courses remotely can be challenging and that many of you are also navigating added family responsibilities, work disruptions, and health concerns due to COVID. Our Lurie College community is here for you!
Please reach out to your instructors, academic advisors, and/or program coordinators if you have questions or concerns about your courses. We also encourage you to connect with our dedicated team in the Lurie College Student Success Center for support and advice on how to access resources on campus. If you are struggling, you aren’t alone. Please contact us so that we can connect you with academic supports, counseling services, financial supports, or other resources to help you succeed.
The events of recent weeks have reminded us, once again, of the critical importance of the work that happens in our college. The hatred, bigotry, nativism, violence, and white supremacy that were on full display during the capitol insurrection on January 6, clearly demonstrate the need for transformative educators, counselors, therapists, and school, college, and community leaders. Thank you for your courageous decision to commit to academic fields and professional careers that will position you to be agents of change and move us toward a more just, inclusive, and equitable future.
In recent months, our faculty and staff have recommitted ourselves to advancing racial justice within our college. You can view numerous examples of policy and program changes that we are committed to addressing during the 2020-21 academic year on our college’s Strategic Plan webpage. We also recently created a webpage with a collection of Antiracism and Racial Justice Resources, which includes articles, podcasts, social media accounts, videos, and much more.
We hope you’ll join us at our upcoming engagement opportunities – such as our Conversation with Radical Monarchs’ Cofounder Anayvette Martinez, our Emancipatory Education Speaker Series, and more – to further advance this work. We’ll also announce dates for our Deans’ Forums soon so that you can share your input, ideas, critiques, and questions with us directly.
A final word of advice in closing… Pace yourself! It promises to be a full semester with lots of time spent in online learning and activities. Make sure that in the midst of your courses, field experiences, work, and family responsibilities you take time to take care of yourself. Give yourself permission to turn off the computer and go outside. Get sleep. Find time to listen to music, have a good laugh, or just breathe. We need you in this work for the long term, and that means we need you to take care of yourself.
With gratitude –
Heather Lattimer, Dean
heather.lattimer@sjsu.edu