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Spring Break Precautions

By Dr. Joseph Castleberry | Posted on Friday, March 05, 2021

As we approach Spring Break I wanted to send you a note with a couple of exhortations and some news.

Here’s what you need to know and consider:

  1. We want to encourage students to get a good break next week and then come back to class with a victory mentality to finish the semester strong! If you have been taking classes in-person on campus, don’t go fully remote now – stay in class and pour on the gas. The finish line is just ahead! 
  2. We expect that vaccines will be available to everyone this summer. Even though the vaccine won't be required to attend classes, we strongly encourage everyone to get vaccinated unless advised differently by their physician. This article appeared today in the Assemblies of God ministers’ magazine, Influence. It neatly sums up the official position of the University: Influence Magazine | Should Christians Take the COVID-19 Vaccine?
  3. Because of the strong expectation of universal access to the vaccine and a reasonable expectation of considerable herd immunity by August, we are not planning for remote only students. Even if we are forced into periods of Hyflex, we want students to come to class in-person when they can. If you are unable to come to campus, you can switch to one of our robustly developed online programs. We do plan to continue to offer Hyflex in specific graduate programs for reasons unrelated to COVID-19
  4. We will not require a “slow start” after Spring Break because we trust students to behave responsibly. (You have earned our trust, and we are so proud of you.) Our hope is to see greater and greater liberty as the semester progresses, and we don’t see a need to observe special caution at this point due to Spring Break.

I have already begun plans to establish a monument to our students and employees who bravely faced the pandemic over the past two academic years and kept everyone carrying the call into their futures. As our bus-banner campaign around the area says, “Your future is not cancelled,” but that is only true because you refused to let circumstances cancel it. Your faith and determination have inspired me! At some point in the near future, we will take time to mourn those who have died, to rejoice with those who have overcome, and to reflect on the meaning of this whole experience to guide us into better days ahead.