7 minute read
Observations
—Gregory S. Woodward
Some Positive News Amid the Challenges
Dear Friends,
Here, much to your surprise, is a set of positive messages from me to you, because the reality is that we could all use some.
The University is ready to open for the fall semester. It won’t look or feel quite the same, but we are prepared to do our very best in a tough situation. The campus team has come together in amazing ways to make this happen—safety and health efforts and precautions; new seating and spacing floor plans; creative course delivery models and pedagogies; rigid but reasonable residence hall protocols and dining options; face-to-face, online, and blended learning—we will have it all.
More than 1,300 first-year students will join us this fall; an incredible number in this crazy year and a secure vote of confidence in the education and experience that UHart has to offer.
After two years of intense work on creating a more diverse and inclusive campus, with much progress, the recent national reawakening to the discrimination towards people of color that plagues our world has challenged us to do more and to do better. The President’s Task Force on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I), staff and students, the executive director of DE&I, and the Office of Student Engagement and Inclusion have all plunged into the powerful and critical work ahead with new and expanded plans for events, education, engagement, reflection, dialogue, and change. We are all in this together and I am fully dedicated to help foster our campus as a model for our community of understanding, equity, tolerance, and social justice.
The future of the University is strong. Applications topped 13,000 for this fall. Our retention of first- to second-year students is on the rise, highlighted by an increase of over 10 percent for students of color.
Our new academic building is on schedule to open in the fall of 2021 with a beautiful array of state-of-the-art teaching and learning spaces for health professions, engineering, and technology. This expansion holds much of the promise of a sustainable institution in partnership with the traditions of excellence we cherish in our ongoing programs and colleges. The physical campus is changing and looking better every day with new fire pits, seating areas, gardens, residence hall renovations, and refreshed academic spaces.
We could not have anticipated anything as disruptive as the COVID-19 pandemic—especially so instantaneous in effect. While the negative financial implications for us—and all universities—are disturbing, the strength of our institution to be flexible during challenging and evolving times is a great asset.
This period of rightsizing and stabilizing the University, and doing so in the midst of a world crisis, calls for an unusual combination of individual, programmatic, and school/college/division ingenuity and creativity inside of a centralized system that needs to be more coordinated, better controlled, and more precisely orchestrated and strategic than, perhaps, ever before.
I close with more positive news: we have created a budget that with a somewhat smallish investment, put in context of the losses, will allow us to work to a balanced, end-of-year budget for the coming year. Much of this ability comes from the generosity of our friends, and I thank you on behalf of our students for your inspiring support.
As we used to say in my day, keep the faith! Humans are tough and smart. We will figure it out and education is the key to this and to our collective future. The University of Hartford is up for the challenge, the fight, and the joy. H
—Brianna Tribble-Bryant ’20 Early Childhood Education
EMPOWER EVERY STUDENT Consider your next gift to the UHart Impact Fund today.
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As alumni director from 1969 to 1978, I had the distinct pleasure to create an event that honored two alumni (Edgar Brisson ’59 and Bob Breeding ’59) who were the project leaders at Hamilton Standard for the spacesuit. I was prompted to write after seeing the article on alum Lenny Masiello ’69 (page 27, fall 2019 issue). That spacesuit is what saved the life of alumnus Jack Swigert (M’67) on the Apollo 13 Mission. It was his last defense for air before the landing back on earth. So it is that Edgar Brisson and Bob Breeding saved the life of fellow alumnus Jack Swigert. I met Swigert at an event we held for him 10 days after his return to earth. Seeing Masiello in the suit is yet another praiseworthy thing. These are great reminders for our graduates about the successes of University of Hartford alumni. —Peter Hunter ’69 (A&S), former director of alumni relations
In the article, “Teaching with Passion” (page 14, fall 2019 issue), it states you either “survived Charles Canedy and proceeded on in the business school or you changed majors.” I did not “survive” Charles Canedy. I did proceed to write an Amazon best-selling book on marketing and co-found one of the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. I’ll admit, I was angry at Professor Canedy. While I have gone on to be successful in business and in marketing, I suppose I still feel knots in my stomach when I think of him. On September 11, 2001, I drove to the University of Hartford to attend my classes in music and business. That morning, I heard the grave news that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I told Canedy what had happened. His response was simply, “take your seat.” The following 90 minutes were torture. I could not concentrate as I worried about what had happened and who was impacted. My mom had flown into the airport in Boston the morning before. I had family and friends working and living in New York—family and friends I had left just two weeks earlier where I had spent the summer interning at Blue Note Records (where I passed through the World Trade Center daily). I was angry at Charles Canedy and never returned to his class nor spoke to him again. I convinced my advisor, Irene O’Connor, to allow me to do an independent study in music and marketing, an internship at Snow Sound. A decision that has, without doubt, led me to where I am today. We all have our September 11 stories. Ebony Campbell’s story (page 34 of the same issue) is far more traumatic than mine. All the individuals who lost loved ones experienced more pain than I could ever imagine. This is just my story. My life was forever changed because of the decision Professor Canedy made that morning. I wonder if, when Professor Canedy thinks about how he first learned of 9/11, he remembers me. If he could do it over again, would he change how he reacted to me? That certainly wouldn’t have changed what happened that morning, but it may have changed the direction of my life, a direction for which I am forever grateful. —Rachel Mele ’03 (Hartt)
Thank you for publishing Observations/Message from the President (page 2, fall 2019 issue). I read this column in every issue. I am not a UHart alum but have a relative who earned a master’s degree from UHart and subsequently earned a PhD.
Moreover, Dr. Gregory S. Woodward is a native of West Hartford and a Hall High School graduate. I grew up in West Hartford and am still intimately connected to the town and New England. In the words of Dr. Woodward, he is “grateful to lead this special institution … and determined to continue to enhance and deliver the UHart educational experience to our incredible students. … Together, through the great contributions of so many of you, we are going to continue to increase access to a UHart education …” Notice the emphasis is on “we” and “together.” This is the hallmark of a great leader. —James A. Johnson, Esq.
FOR THE RECORD
The University of Hartford’s annual award for excellence in teaching is named for Roy E. Larsen. The last name was spelled incorrectly on page 15 of the fall 2019 issue.
Deborah Rice ’70 (ENHP), included in the “We Remember” section on page 54 of the winter 2019 issue, resided in Marlborough, Conn. The listed town was incorrect.
