The season of gratitude is upon us, and we have so many reasons to feel joyful this fall. We are thankful for the campus’ approach to managing COVID-19 and the diligence applied to keeping us safe through vaccinations and accessible testing. Our vaccination rates are at 98 percent with a positivity rate of 0.06 percent for the past 30 days.

Fall is here! The campus is active, students and faculty have settled into a routine, and the leaves are beginning to turn colors. We also celebrated the first rain in several months for our parched state. While our transition to in-person instruction has gone smoothly and our COVID-19 numbers stay manageable, we know that many members of our community are experiencing additional stress and anxiety due to the ongoing pandemic.

Welcome to the start of a new school year! The energy on campus is quickly shifting as students settle into campus. It is great to see new faces and our colleagues in person, and I am definitely excited to see food trucks and places to purchase coffee! We have been working from home for an unprecedented amount of time, and while we expect this next phase of transition to take us time to adjust, I am continually reminded of how resilient and adaptable we are within the college, even in the face of the unknown.

Congratulations to the graduating class of 2021! We are so proud of all they have accomplished to reach this important milestone. We salute their resilience, creativity and perseverance. The skills that helped them reach this moment will be the skills that will help them succeed throughout their lives in whatever they choose to do.

Last year, the horrible death of George Floyd prompted a national discussion about race in a way that has been eye-opening, soul-searching and incredibly important. While we’ve seen an increase in violence toward people of color, we also acknowledge that more and more people are recognizing a deep need for change in how we engage with, support and lift each other.

Spring is a traditional time of renewal, a reawakening of life. We see this through the new growth in our fields and greenhouses, the births happening in our barns and from the energy in our communities as people start to enjoy the outdoors. This year feels even more renewing as our society rebounds from the pandemic, and we are experiencing that here as our town and campus slowly come back to life.

I can’t believe that I am once again struggling to comprehend the senseless killing of black men and women. Coupling that with the rise in hate crimes against the Asian Pacific Islander community, I wonder, when our communities will become safer for people of color? To quote Chancellor May, it’s exhausting.  

Congratulations to our newly admitted Aggies! This spring we celebrate the freshman class of 2025 admits, and if all goes well with the pandemic and vaccination roll out, we will officially welcome them in person on campus this fall. Our transfer class of 2023 will receive their official admit notifications later this spring, and we are excited to welcome them into our college community, too.

Last year, the CA&ES Dean’s Office established the 2020 Academic and Strategic Planning (ASP) committee to review and update the 2015 Academic and Strategic Plan at the request of campus leadership. For the past five years, our college strategic plan has served as the foundational guide for how we continue to uphold our land grant mission to serve the public through research, academics and public service. 2020 marked the five-year anniversary of the initial plan, and we were due for an update.

A year ago, the world looked very different for our students as they neared the completion of their degrees. They were finishing up winter quarter, looking forward to graduating in June, and reaching out to potential employers in preparation for that next step. The pandemic forced many of the students to adapt their expectations for the new ways of working while sheltering in place and maintaining social distance. Now more than ever, our bright, educated students need to connect with supportive and engaged employers.