Recent Program Features

Painting 6/9/2020
Jacqueline Asplund
“We can Beat this - Together”
#COVID-19#BLM

When I first started this painting, I thought about what 2020 has symbolized for me. This time has been lonely even though we all are a part of it.  I wanted to get in as much as possible about what is going on right now to try to get future researchers an understanding of my feelings and emotions. We are not just going through a pandemic, but also a revolution of Black Lives Matter. For me, it was important to get this part into the drawing somehow since even though they are two different happenings, they are synced together and will always be in
the history books.

In the painting, one can see the main factors during this pandemic. There are empty streets, a person carrying a facemask, the dark theme, and the virus who shows taking over the city. There are tiny hints about the movement of Black Lives Matter. The skin-color of the person, the position of the person (in front of the empty streets and virus), the sign with the hashtags, and lastly the hidden message in the eyes. I do believe people will find different meanings and see more reasoning behind this painting to understand what people the year 2020 are going through-together.

“We can Beat this - Together” #COVID-19 #BLM: We are in this together, we fight together, yet so far apart, yet different paths. But we all have the same goal. To come out from this stronger, united, and with wisdom.

An excerpt from Eichie's reflection piece:

On the evening of May 2, 2020, I took a walk to the closest shop to my residence which is called Kwik Trip to get groceries, on reaching there, I met two of my friends, Richard and Amish who had also to come purchase items from the same shop and I walked quickly towards them. I felt a spur of happiness upon seeing them, I had put out my hand wanting to shake hands with them, accompanied by a subtle hug but Richard declined immediately saying to me “no shaking of hands till they are sanitized” and he put his hand into his pocket and brought out a bottle of hand sanitizer and asked that I open my hands for him to pour me some before he would shake my hands. I obliged him and did as he had asked, we shook hands while laughing about it and afterwards myself and Amish greeted using our elbows. We conversed for about thirteen minutes, standing six feet from each other with our face masks on all the while and afterwards I proceeded to shop at Kwik Trip for groceries and returned home.

The safety of our faculty, staff and students is the top value guiding the work we are doing to prepare for reopening campus. Things will certainly be different—but the changes that are being implemented are being done with the health and safety of campus community in mind.

Our plan is to create a community of care for everyone at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Although we don’t have all the details about exactly how that will happen, here are some of the ways we will do so:

• Providing access to an electronic daily health self-screening check-list for signs and symptoms of COVID-19
• Providing two cloth masks to all faculty, staff and students
• Adopting a phased transition of employees back to campus
• Working with departments and work units to prepare spaces that follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) guidelines related to COVID-19
• Creating signage to support social distancing and hygiene guidelines across campus
• Offering FlexSync classes that allow for both in-person and remote learning this fall

If you have questions about the Return to Learn planning process or what you can expect on campus this fall, please submit your questions here. We will get back to you with an answer as soon as possible. Faculty should speak to their deans if they have situations needing accommodations.

Dear Students:

Your safety is the top value guiding the work we at the University are doing to prepare for your arrival back on campus this fall. Things will certainly be different—but the changes that are being implemented are being done with the health and safety of all our students, faculty, staff and visitors in mind.

Our plan is to surround you with a community of care at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Although we don’t have all the details about exactly how that will happen, here are some of the ways we will do so:

• Providing access to an electronic daily health self-screening checklist for signs and symptoms of COVID-19
• Providing two cloth masks to each of you
• Following social distancing and hygiene guidelines across campus
• Offering FlexSync classes that allow for both in-person and remote learning options
• Reserving space for resident students who need to quarantine and/or isolate

I encourage any of you who have questions about the Return to Learn planning process or what you can expect on campus this fall to submit your questions here. We will get back to you with an answer as soon as possible.

I will continue to send you email updates so you know how the University is preparing for fall and you can find more information about the Return to Learn initiative by visiting www.mnsu.edu/returntolearn.

I look forward to seeing you again in August!

Sincerely,

Richard Davenport,
President