Dear Members of the Methodist University Community,
This is going to be a tough semester for all of us. It is going to require patience, commitment, vigilance, and faith.
I know everyone’s caution fatigue is fast becoming caution exhaustion. We hate wearing masks; we miss meaningful contact with friends, as opposed to looking at them in two-dimensional boxes on a computer screen; we want to do things and go places and get back to life as we love it. And for goodness sake, how many times can I wash my hands in a single day without them beginning to look more like alligator feet?
On top of this, we can now see the end of the pandemic on the horizon. Vaccines are being distributed. The holiday spike in COVID cases is beginning to wane ever so slowly. Why can’t we just be done with this?
The answer to that question, of course, is that we can’t be done with COVID yet because it is not yet done with us. And, that is why we need the virtues I listed above. If we can just hunker down for a few more months, remembering this is in our hands and that we are in it together, we will get through this much faster and with much better health on our campus than if we begin to throw caution to the wind.
Now is not the time to give up. Victory over this deadly virus can be won, but not through complacency. Now, more than ever, we must move Forward Together toward that horizon where a virus no longer holds us in a death grip. Now more than ever is the time to hold ourselves and each other responsible for following our simple health and safety protocols. Yes, we are sick of hearing about wearing masks, practicing social distancing, and washing our hands often and thoroughly, but until each of us is able to be vaccinated, those are the best weapons we have in this fight, and they work.
So, please join me in renewing our pledge to continue doing what worked for us so well last semester. Let’s be sure to self-monitor and report on the Green Screen App each day. Let’s take care of ourselves and each other so that we can get to the end of this difficult period. And, when you get the opportunity to take the vaccination, please do that too, both for your sake and for the good of the entire MU community.
Sincerely,