Welcome back (wherever you are)

Posted Sept. 1, 2020

Transcript

Hi everyone. I’m Tim Rahilly and I am President and Vice-Chancellor at Mount Royal University. It’s my great honour to welcome you to the fall semester of 2020 at Mount Royal University. If you’re returning to MRU welcome back and if you’re new to Mount Royal we are so happy that you are joining us at the University.

This September will be unlike any other September in Mount Royal’s history. Most of you are going to be studying or working remotely while a few people will be on campus in carefully planned in-person classes and some of you will be working on campus in order to support our students. A number of us will be at a distance. Wherever you are the time that you’re spending with Mount Royal is so important. For students your academic experience is of foremost importance to us - you are very important to us. For employees you are making a critical difference to the lives of our students and you have been, and will continue to be, student centered and I’m so grateful for that. Happy to be part of the Mount Royal community, proud to be part of the Mount Royal community.

Our top priority remains the health and safety of everyone at Mount Royal. I know that that comes with a series of frustrations, and I really hope that you can roll with that and tolerate some of those because we really do want to make sure that Mount Royal does not end up being a place of covid outbreaks, et cetera.

We’ve all worked hard during the summer to get ready for the fall and after a beautiful summer I am excited to share with you five things that have me excited about the fall semester. So without further delay here are my top five - I’m sure there are others.

Number one: We are opening up some of the facilities at the University. We’re opening up the Rec Centre for students and the library will be open for work and study.

Number two: The pandemic has shown us the importance of learning for all of us. We can all show that we can adapt and we can grow because we’ve learned new skills. After all, I think that’s what post-secondary education is all about.

Number three: I am so grateful - I cannot overemphasize how grateful I am - for the efforts of our faculty, heroic efforts, in order to prepare and adjust for alternative delivery during the fall semester. I know everyone remains committed to our academic mission and I know you’re going to do a great job.

Number four: I am grateful for the patience and flexibility of our students as I know you recognize that this is not business as usual and we are working hard to provide you with the best education that we possibly can. I’m excited to see the success that you will have this semester.

Number five: Through all of this I’m most excited by the very strong evidence that a post-secondary education is absolutely critical for individual and societal success. I think the covid pandemic and the economic circumstances show us that a university education is a good investment for ourselves and for our society. I think we have to hold onto that very strongly.

Thank you for choosing Mount Royal University, thank you for being part of the Mount Royal community. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, customers and if I’ve missed anyone else I apologize. We are stronger as a community because you’re part of our community. You do belong here and I wish you all the very best this fall. I’ll be right here with you metaphorically, spiritually, if not physically, and I look forward to hearing about your success during the fall.

Stay well, and I’ll talk to you very soon.