Summer is usually the time when folks take it down a notch and embrace the long, leisurely days with a slower routine, catch up on some projects, and take a vacation. I was looking forward to some time off as well to relax, read, binge on some television series I have been wanting to watch, and reconnect with family.
But this summer is different. Most of us are now operating off a Plan B, or perhaps even a Plan C or D, as we all continue to adapt to circumstances that have continuously forced change to our typically well-scripted intentions. Most vacations have been postponed or cancelled and adjusting to our new norms have had us spending extra time working to adapt to a digital workforce and lifestyle.
COVID-19 has changed the structure of the year, but throughout it all we have endeavored to stay strong and united. Today, with our nation facing a new challenge of racial discord and assaults on human dignity, that goal is more important than ever.
Chancellor Eugene Giovannini’s message to employees on June 2 eloquently stated, “that together, we can be agents of positive change.” He wrote, “In this moment and forever forward, we cannot let fundamental human values be politicized. Rather, we must stand together as the community’s college and serve as a beacon of hope by exemplifying—along with our community supporters and partners—what inclusion really means.”
At Tarrant County College, we are dedicated to removing barriers of all kinds to provide a learning environment that is nurturing and welcoming of everyone. I echo Dr. Giovanni’s sentiments that “we overcome fear, through education. We surmount social inequity through education. We survive and we thrive through education.”
I invite you to join me in working to advance essential conversations as to how we can make Trinity River Campus an institution that is built on ensuring the individual success of every one of our students, staff, and faculty members.
We are in this together,
S. Sean Madison
TCC Trinity River President