Pick Up Your Thank You Gift Today

Dear Andrews students,

As you may remember, yesterday, March 11, was the one-year anniversary of Andrews University’s decision to switch to remote learning, after a state of emergency was announced for the state of Michigan in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic on March 10, 2020. Yesterday’s Need to Know newsletter provides a great summary of our spring semester COVID-19 cases, including only one new case in March, and overall percentage of positive cases at half of the COVID-19 positivity rates for the state of Michigan.

As you read that newsletter, you will see that our Andrews University family, including each one of you, has much to be grateful for.

For many of you, I realize that this past year has been one of the most difficult years of our lives and certainly the most challenging university learning environment you’ve ever experienced.

With that in mind, I wanted to share with you how much I appreciate all of the challenges, sacrifices and disappointments you’ve navigated in your own lives in order to be able to continue your educational journey with us. I am deeply grateful for your commitment to and participation in the COVID-19 health and safety protocols for our entire Andrews community.

For those of you who may still be struggling with pressures that are becoming more unmanageable, please consider reaching out to the many campus resources in our Student Success and Student Life teams of deans, chaplains, counselors, or one of your professors or advisors. All of us are eager to support you and help you have a successful completion to this spring semester.

In recognition of our one-year COVID-19 journey together and my gratitude to you, fresh apples and oranges, along with tiny colorful packages of fruit gummies will be available just outside the Student Life office, at 12:30 p.m. today, March 12, until they disappear. Additionally, small containers of hand sanitizer, made possible by a generous gift to the University by AdventHealth, are available to pick up at both the Student Life office and James White Library during posted office hours, beginning on Monday, March 15.

As we’ve experienced the warmth and promise of spring this week and as we look forward to the coming Easter season, all of those things are hopeful reminders that we are coming out of a long, dark winter/year and moving into the light and hope.

So, I encourage each one of you to hold on! We serve a risen Savior.

As we mark this complicated anniversary of COVID-19 journeys in our lives, our families, our campus and our world, may God bless you and keep you as we continue to press together to care for one another—from a (six foot!) distance—for a little while longer.

With care,

Frances Faehner
Vice President for Campus & Student Life