Thursday night, March 12, came with unexpected and uncharted territory as Union University announced the decision to move all semester classes to an online or alternate delivery format. Students have received the news with shock and disbelief as they have been learning how to navigate through the rest of the semester with these new changes.
Bryan Carrier, vice president for student life and dean of students, willingly sat down with me as he offered advice, encouragement and wisdom to the university and the community amidst these unprecedented times in light of COVID-19. Below is our conversation.
SR: What steps led to this decision, and what are some more practical steps for students to remain safe and healthy?
BC: We’ve been tracking this for about a month and a half since reports came out in China. You can imagine when it comes to a decision like this, you can’t enter into it lightly because of our commitment to our students, their families and the community. Also, there’s just a whole myriad of ripple effects that come from a decision like this. We wanted to evaluate how this would affect students and how we could give every student the same experiences.
It’s impacted every facet of the university, but what’s impressive to me is to see the faculty’s response. I always say in crises, you always see a person’s true character because when in crises, you don’t have time to pretend or wear the mask. You get to see who people really are, and I’ve been consistently impressed with our faculty and staff. Even though it’s abnormal or out of their comfort zone, they ensure our students are cared for and are experiencing education in the most effective way possible.
We don’t consider this as a campus closure. Our residence housing is staying open; our dining services are still open, but we’re taking precautionary measures to help prevent the spread. The other thing we didn’t want to do is force students to go somewhere where it’s not safe to go back home because we don’t believe that’s an ethical decision. We want to be as hospitable and display Christian community as much as we’re able to in a time of crisis.
How can students combat loneliness during this time of social distancing, and how can we as Christians strive to live in faith, not fear, during this time of global panic?
Our Creator did not design us to live in isolation, but He designed us to live in community and in relationships with Him and one another. We’re encouraging increased isolation in a time of increased anxiety, which is the unfortunate reality of this situation. Ultimately, we are striving to create a call for students to understand that distance between persons doesn’t mean you have to have distance relationally.
What we will be working through as a staff is understanding the ways we can still have that community via distance or in small groups. For example, we’re still allowing group counseling to go on; we’re just doing it in a larger room, and we’ll utilize technology and Zoom for people who can’t be there. The University ministries has cancelled group chapel today through April 13, but we are investigating in ways that we can work with students on spiritual connectedness where they are at, whether it be here or at home.
What encouragement can you give students and families of students who will remain on campus?
We know this massive change in delivery method brings anxiety, and we know that students all learn differently. The student life staff and all their services—the center for academic success, the vocatio center, disability services, health services and counseling services—are all changing their method of contact and delivery, so we want to make sure students not only have access to that but that they’re also utilizing all those resources.
What we don’t want is for students or their families to think they’re on this journey alone because we’re all on this journey together. There’s not a playbook for this, so at the end of the day, we need to ask ourselves what are we doing with the intellect God has given us, how does that impact the greater community and how does that impact our neighbor?
How can we best love our neighbors both in the Union and greater Jackson community during this time?
There are three main components to that question. The first is a community health: what’s our responsibility to protect the greater good? We don’t want to expose people, which is part of the reason we are not meeting as a class. This is not only a risk to you, but it’s also a risk to others.
The other component is asking ourselves what’s our theology of risk? Who do we believe God to be, who are we in relationship with Him and what does that mean for our actions? Is it safer to stay in our little corner—don’t talk to anyone, have contact with anyone, reach out to anyone? Probably. Does the Lord call us to that? Absolutely not. Are there risks involved in that? Sure. At the same time that we want to be safe, we also want to be fulfilling our Christian calling to be good neighbors to love our community and to serve them.
I think the final component is understanding that this is a time of extreme unprecedented uncertainty. It’s crazy, but I think it’s an opportunity for the world to see Christians have a different perspective on life and on what our role is in this life. I think it’s a great opportunity to show confidence in Christ, who He is and who we are in Him.
I want students to know they’re cared for. I want them to know the university is not abandoning them. We stand ready to serve, to help and to answer questions.
