Message from Merrill

I cannot believe we are only about two months away from the end of the spring semester! As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, we always keep in mind that your students are the heart and soul of this campus, and I want to thank you for entrusting us with them.

Each year, I pick out a word that I want to be a theme for my personal and professional life. 2020’s word was “intentional.” I was going to slow down, work on being more precise, figure out how to be more efficient. … Then 2020 laughed in my face mask.

My word for 2021 was inspired by students because they are nothing if not resilient. The students who are going through college right now have shown me the true definition of resilience. Last semester, I told all my students that they will be the generation of “can do and will do.” These young men and women have shown resilience when things didn’t work out, when student groups began to meet on Zoom versus in the Union, when they advocated for traditional class modality, when they lost Grove tailgating and a traditional football season. But they persisted!

Mom, dad, grandma, guardian, aunts and uncles – what you taught them at home came to Oxford with them! The 18 years you spent making sure they could come to college prepared gave them strength. If you think back to their elementary school days, would you ever imagine you would support your child from afar during a worldwide pandemic? I know I didn’t expect to send my kindergartener to school in a mask when I was expecting!

Now I’d like to shift gears and talk about students’ health. I think we would all agree that our most pressing concerns are our students’ mental and physical well-being. The University Counseling Center, Magee Center for Wellness Education, and Clinic for Outreach and Personal Enrichment, or COPE, are just a few places your student can go for support. The Student Health Center is ready to step in if your students are ill. They can assist with everything from allergies to X-rays. The teams at the OMFA and Center for Student Success and First-Year Experience are also here to make sure your students have the resources they need to succeed academically.

I hope you are enjoying Family Connection, the joint update from OMFA and University Marketing and Communications. We will continue to alternate newsletters throughout the semester to ensure you are receiving updated information on COVID-19, including testing and vaccines, in addition to events on campus and how you can encourage your students to get involved.

Remember – I am here for you as your advocate! Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have concerns about your student, are looking for more information, or if you want to talk about life as a parent adjusting to having a loved in college.

 

Take care,

 

Merrill Magruder
Coordinator of Family Programs