skip to main content
Search

Southwest services and classes are virtual on Fridays. Find out more!

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Doing the right thing

Dr. Tracy HallThe famous tagline from Spike Lee’s thought-provoking 1988 film “Do the Right Thing” still rings true more than 30 years later: “It’s the hottest day of the summer. You can do nothing, you can do something, or you can do the right thing.” It’s eerie how relevant these words are even today. 

It’s the pandemic. We can do nothing. We can do something. Or we can do the right thing. At Southwest, our choice is clear: we will do the right thing for our students, our city and one another. We will mask up. We cannot be successful without being safe.

Therefore, we also have moved to all virtual classes and operations Sept. 7-11 following the Labor Day holiday. This 5-day virtual period is designed to protect students, faculty and staff in the event there is a substantial spike in the local COVID-19 infection rate in the days immediately following the holiday weekend and to give those who may have contracted the coronavirus over the holiday weekend a chance to possibly present symptoms and take appropriate measures to get tested, care for themselves and protect others.

While we hold fast to our mission of student success, this proactive approach to preventing the transmission of the virus after a major holiday when families and the public may celebrate in close quarters is prudent and necessary. I am confident our students and employees can pivot and keep moving forward to success.”

Southwest is committed to encouraging safe behavior in all environments and that is why we have placed posters all over campus encouraging everyone to “Do the Right Thing” and wear face masks at all times. We also encourage you to practice social distancing and use the cleansing cloths in the buckets generously placed throughout our facilities to clean high-touch surfaces like keyboards and door knobs before and after you touch them. 

Doing the right thing means doing what we can not only to protect yourself from the coronavirus, but also others. If you need personal protective equipment, also known as PPE, alert Associate Vice President for Administrative Services Michael Boyd at mdboyd1@southwest.tn.edu right away. Also, if you notice areas around campus that need attention from custodial services, let Mr. Boyd know that, too. 

A safe campus means one where a culture of compliance reigns. While we have worked diligently for the past 18 months to protect life, promote safety and operate transparently, the pandemic is an unprecedented experience for all of us and we are learning more and more about how to better serve Southwest students and employees and the community at-large each day.  

To promote even greater transparency, we have launched a COVID-19 Cases Dashboard online on the College’s coronavirus section of the website that provides information on the number of COVID-19 positive self-reports received at Southwest each week. As our practice, a positive COVID-19 case report is announced when a building must be taken out of service for disinfection. A COVID-19 positive case is not announced when it is associated with facilities that have been routinely disinfected and a closure is not necessary due to the time elapsed between the visit and the self-report. If a building has been identified and sanitized, but not closed, no announcement is made. In all cases, individuals who are identified through contact tracing as being potentially exposed to the person who self-reported are notified. The identity of individuals who self-report is confidential. The College will not divulge the names of those who self-report to any persons outside of the investigative process. 

The pandemic has presented new challenges, but they are not insurmountable. We are up to the task, if we work together and do our very best to protect ourselves and one another from the Delta variant of the coronavirus. Please continue to wear your mask, practice social distancing and submit a self-report should you receive a positive COVID-19 test result.

Thank you all for coming back. As we move forward, know that our focus is on safety and compliance, student success and Southwest success. 

Let’s have a great year and be well! 

Dr. Tracy D. Hall,
President