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STUDENT NEWS: Honors Convocation salutes perseverance during pandemic

Zaria LaneSouthwest opened the 2020-2021 academic year Aug. 19 at Fall Convocation with inspirational presentations from students and updates from College leaders.  Students Zaria Lane, Montrell Polk and Andrea Caery moved those who attended the College’s first-ever virtual Convocation with touching poetic recitations that paid homage to family and faculty and reflected on their origin and the path that led them to Southwest.

Vice Presidents Jacqueline Faulkner (Student Affairs), Dr. Kendricks Hooker (Academic Affairs) and Michael Neal (Financial and Administrative Services) provided updates on the College’s Back to Campus Plan and new operations for the fall semester. 

President Tracy D. Hall provided a brief overview of the College’s journey since her arrival five years ago and where Southwest is headed with her presentation Reimagining Southwest: From What to Why to What Next? 

For more details, click the video graphic below to watch the Convocation and the town hall that followed or this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZBcoiYLZFQ.

President Dr. Tracy D. Hall welcomes faculty and staff to the first virtual Fall Convocation.

President Dr. Tracy D. Hall welcomes faculty and staff to the first virtual Fall Convocation.

Dr. Hall went on to describe how the pandemic has magnified systemic barriers and injustices and how the College will respond by accelerating its equity work.  “It’s time out for talking. We know what to do and need to do it,” she said.  “It’s accelerating our equity work.  Our Black students are not doing as well as our White students and we are a predominantly Black institution.”

According to Dr. Hall, part of this equity work includes bridging the digital divide by loaning laptops to students and blurring the lines between the classroom and business and industry through the College’s new externship program.  “We must increase social and economic mobility and this is difficult. We cannot do it alone.”  She says Southwest will continue to work with area partners to increase its capacity to effect change in Memphis and beyond. “Collectively, we can do great things. We are starting by looking at how we can continue to provide a quality education.”

Dr. Hall also provided a sobering look ahead. “We had anticipated a 10-15 percent drop in enrollment,” she said, but that fear, loss of income, child care challenges and homeschooling requirements and loss of life due to COVID-19 could cause a deeper decline.  “We are taking various cost-cutting and streamlining measures.” Dr. Hall also described the College’s efforts to boost enrollment and reassured those in attendance that she and College leaders were doing everything they could to bridge the fiscal gap and avoid impacting employees moving forward.  “Rest assured in knowing that trouble will not last always. We have to come together and think of the best path forward.”

Following convocation was an employee town hall where the Dr. Hall and the vice presidents answered a myriad of questions, most of which focused on the College’s plans to navigate the budget shortfall caused by a significant dip in enrollment brought on by the pandemic.

For more details, click the video graphic below to watch the Convocation and the town hall that followed or this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZBcoiYLZFQ.

Fall Convo Video

Scoop - September/October 2020