On Piedmont's personality and perseverance
E
ach
ways during March and April. In just one week, our
spring,
faculty completely reimagined their courses for remote
Piedmont
learning and launched them successfully. Our information
hosts a disaster
technology folks worked feverishly to implement systems
drill. The exercise
for online learning. Piedmont’s student services staff put in
was originally
incredibly long hours helping student residents to safely
developed to
relocate their belongings and address other concerns.
help train nursing
Everyone in every department had some role
students but has
to play. Of course, Piedmont was not alone. Many
evolved into
other institutions were grappling with similar issues.
an event that
But we were doing it in our unique way.
includes students
Like some colleges and universities, Piedmont hosts
from each of
an event each year to celebrate the academic work
the college’s
of our students. This year, we planned for a day-long
four schools.
celebration that would have included poster presentations,
Theatre students,
musical performances, and student-led lectures.
for example,
When campuses began shuttering in March,
use the mock drill to hone their skill as actors by playing
many colleges and universities that had planned
the role of victims. And our mass communications students
research days simply shelved them. Our faculty took
create a real-life press response covering the disaster.
a different approach. In just a few short weeks they
The annual exercise also involves city, county,
developed an interactive website to host the event and
and state first responders and law enforcement
rallied together remotely to make it work. Nearly 140
officers. Last year, the emergency was a fire at the
students participated in the live event on April 15.
Swanson Center. In recent memory, Piedmont has also game-planned for a bombing and a tornado. Ironically, this year’s drill, a mass shooting, was cancelled due to a real-life disaster: COVID-19. And no amount of training or drilling could have prepared us for the weeks ahead. Like everyone else, the college’s administration, faculty, and staff
Another example is Chris Kelly, a professor and Chair of Piedmont’s Art Department. He found a way to use the college’s 3-D printers to manufacture face shields for first responders. To date, we have donated more than 500 homemade shields to the Habersham Emergency Management Agency. The Piedmont College family has revealed itself to
were bewildered by the dizzying speed of unfolding
be resilient, creative, kind, and committed to ensuring
events. In just a few weeks we moved from cancelling
our students have every opportunity to advance toward
some study away trips to closing campus.
their degrees, despite the current circumstances. As we
There are many quotes about crises. One of my
look to the future with optimism and plan to welcome
favorites is by Denis Leary, an actor and writer. He
students back to campus this fall, these past few months
writes: “Crisis does not create character it reveals it.”
serve as a reminder that sometimes it takes the worst
On our website and in our publications are
thing to happen to bring out the best in all of us.
messages that speak to Piedmont’s personal nature and our passionate commitment to students. That personality and character were revealed in many remarkable
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| P I E DM ON T C OL L EG E JOU RNAL
James F. Mellichamp, President
