Published March 22, 2020
Dr. Jim Henderson, President of the UL System, has released the following email to
all faculty and staff:
On March 9, the university presidents joined me at our Baton Rouge office, as they
do a half dozen times or so each year, to discuss matters of systemic interest. This
particular agenda consisted primarily of a debrief of our Board of Supervisors’ annual
retreat and a finalization of our legislative strategies for the session that began
at noon that day. Each hour over the preceding weekend saw an elevation of the novel
coronavirus in the public discourse, especially in the higher education community.
By Monday morning, we had all become amateur epidemiologists, and the disease that
would two days later be officially declared a pandemic became the topic of the conversation
at our meeting. Few of us envisioned our new reality, a reality that could be the
introduction to the next dystopian blockbuster, yet here we are. During the intervening
two weeks, I have witnessed examples of leadership, innovation, creativity, and collective
resolution that are nothing short of inspirational.
I sent a message to the Louisiana Legislature last week updating members on your work.
Describing the arduous undertaking that was the wholesale transformation of our learning
environment, I told them “… the resilience and fortitude of our faculty were on full
display, and their demonstrated commitment to student learning is something I will
carry in my memory long after we overcome this challenge.” Similar sentiments could
have been expressed about support staff, student services professionals, facilities
staff, campus police, counselors, librarians, IT staff, and on and on.
Oh, I realize the disruption has been … disruptive. Some of the disruption has even
been self-inflicted: debatable decisions by administrators (this one included), technology
that does not work as designed, technology that does work as designed by the maniac
who designed it, entrenched bureaucracy, seemingly misplaced priorities. All of those,
while frustrating, are natural occurrences in complex organizations. All provide opportunities
for improvement when we reflect on this effort in the months ahead. All pale in comparison
to the work you have accomplished in unworkable conditions.
Our students have been a source of inspiration as well. While the pictures of spring
breakers on Florida beaches, enjoying life and employing minimal social distancing
stole the headlines, the thoughtful eloquence of our student leaders and their remarkable
examples of social consciousness, to me, better define our next great generation.
One thing of which I am certain: better days are ahead, and the university will be
key to securing that brighter future. When science mitigates the impact of this novel
virus, it will be because of the researchers at our universities. If it is nature
that ultimately renders the virus more manageable, as it has with similar viruses,
it will be our experts who help us understand why and help us apply that understanding
to the next episode. When our economy roars back to life, it will be powered by the
work of our graduates, and it will be those graduates who create whatever form that
new economy takes. Most importantly, it will be our university communities who define
what the post-pandemic society looks like; who document not just the biological aspects
of the era but explore the sociological implications as well; who create and eventually
interpret the historical artifacts; who help restore, reshape, and enrich the cultural
milieu; who help us be a better people, a better nation, a better world, while delighting
in commentary, debate, and argument about what that should mean.
Right now, our focus is on the immediate. Your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing
and that of our students, families, and communities should be paramount. As long as
we remember that, we will emerge from this smarter and stronger.
Thank you. Stay well. God bless.
Jim Henderson
President
University of Louisiana System
@DrJBHenderson
Jim.Henderson@ulsystem.edu
