Published October 14, 2020
Welcome Back, Wittenberg Community!
More than a week has passed since we celebrated our Virtual Homecoming Weekend, October 2-4, and I continue to hear accolades surrounding the effort. Sharon and I certainly missed seeing our alumni on campus, but we appreciated their understanding with regard to our decision to deliver this year鈥檚 event virtually. We also appreciated the willingness of alumni, faculty, and staff to participate throughout the weekend, including joining us for a special live Zoom toast.
During the October 2 toast, one thing was clear: alumni continue to relish their memories, friendships, and the sense of community at Wittenberg. They want to be together, which is also what we continue to hear from our current students, who are working, along with all of us, to abide by the new health and safety standards set forth. None of this is what we imagined as 2020 began, but together we have made tremendous strides. Campus visits by prospective students and their families are above the number of visits at this time last year. Our $100-million campaign goal has now surpassed the $70-million mark, and a new general education curriculum is moving forward.
While our fiscal situation remains a challenging one, we are also making strides on that front, which Vice President Rob Young discussed last week. We are also continuing to welcome new members to our community, and as Homecoming showed, we are continuing to honor our heritage and our 175 years of passing our light.
I recognize the great uncertainty in our world at this moment, but the Wittenberg light remains, and I want to remind us of that through this special video below, which we shared during Homecoming. My thanks to Derrick Braziel '09 for helping to bring our story to life.
Best Regards,
Michael Frandsen, Ph.D.
President
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Alumni Excellence
During Homecoming Weekend, we honored several alumni, including Dr. Alan Stewart 鈥�69, Dr. Laurice Moore 鈥�95, and Dr. Dave Hopper 鈥�63 for their service on the COVID Response Team, as well as Dr. Joye Carter 鈥�79, Melissa Moser 鈥�05, and Jonathan Umbel 鈥�07. We also recognized Brian Yontz as the 2020 recipient of the Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching and announced our Alumni of the Year, Karlos Marshall 鈥�13 and Moses Mbeseha 鈥�13, about whom another inspiring video was produced (below). I would direct you to read more about all our winners here.
New To Our Community
Since the beginning of August, we have welcomed 44 new faculty and staff to Wittenberg. To view the full list compiled by the Office of Human Resources, click here.
SAC Shout-Out
The Staff Advisory Council would like to send this month鈥檚 shout-out to the Student CARE Team, which has been instrumental in identifying, monitoring, and, if necessary, providing integrated and intentional support for students. A network of Wittenberg faculty and staff, the CARE Team also serves as a resource for the campus community for consultation regarding a student situation. Congratulations to everyone on the Student CARE Team, and thank you for showing what it means to Tiger Up for our students.