Dear Friends,

As you may recall, I was pleased to report in the last issue of the magazine that we were able to finish out the fall 2020 semester strong and in person. Once again, I am pleased to report that we were able to finish the spring semester in the same manner. Despite the many challenges we have faced, our Griffon community has worked tirelessly to provide our students with the high-quality education and collegiate experiences they expect from Missouri Western, and I am most appreciative of everyone’s efforts.

As of this publication, we plan to return to normal capacity in classrooms, laboratories and other campus spaces. This will allow us to convert many classes from hybrid/blended to 100% in person. It will also allow us to move many larger classes back into regular classrooms, freeing up many of the campus meeting rooms for other events.

Importantly, however, we will continue to follow science, best practices and the latest recommendations from local, state and national health authorities in regard to the pandemic. Our COVID-19 Response Team and members of our Physical Plant continue working diligently to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our campus community. We believe that it will be possible to provide our students with an engaging, fulfilling and safe in-person, on-campus experience this fall.

There is much excitement in the air as we eagerly look forward to the return of our cherished campus traditions. The Division of Student Affairs and other departments are collaborating creatively to plan a full range of activities that can be held safely either in person or in a more engaging way virtually. Hundreds of events are currently planned, including many of our annual events which had to be put on hold throughout 2020.

One of those traditional events that we are planning for is Homecoming. I invite you to join us on campus for Homecoming Week (Oct. 10-16), which culminates in our Homecoming football game against Northeastern State at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16 in our beautiful Spratt Stadium. It’s sure to be an exciting time!

Finally, I cannot thank you all enough for your continued support for Missouri Western. Your support of MWSU communicates to our students, our faculty and our staff that our efforts have value, that you are invested in our success and that you believe in our educational enterprise.  And you’re telegraphing to the community that MWSU is integral to the success of our city, our county, our region, to our state and to our nation. Those are incredibly powerful messages which I deeply appreciate.

All my very best,

Dr. Elizabeth Kennedy

President, Missouri Western State University

President Elizabeth Kennedy