Dear Student,

We are all dealing with the pandemic. Please show grace to everyone.

Today you started classes. You’re going to have to get up earlier and stay up later. You’ll have to study harder, and think more critically.

Do it.

Go to your classes. Take good notes. Read your books. Do your homework.

You’ll get invitations—to outings, college events, student organizations, and clubs. Go.

Join a club you’re interested in. Join a club you never thought you’d consider.

Introduce yourself to your classmates and your neighbors. Smile at the people you pass on the sidewalk or in the halls. Invite someone new to join you in the dining hall. Maybe give an old friend a second chance.

You’re going to learn so much about the world, about others, and about yourself.

Try something new. Take that extra class. Take a harder class. Don’t push off your GenEds. Learn something from a completely different discipline. Let yourself grow.

It’s okay you fail; you’ll find a hidden strength.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. You have so many people to lean on: your classmates, your professors, and a family of alumni.

Take care of yourself. “Hydrate or die-drate.” Eat that bowl of cereal at midnight.

Have fun this year in everything you do—even if it’s pulling an all-nighter to finish putting together a binder for your capstone. Have pride in every assignment, and celebrate every victory—especially the small ones—whether it’s a paper, a performance, or a nightmare of a math equation.

You can do it. We believe in you.

You cannot claim a film scene is charged with sexuality then neglect to mention the close up of a woman sucking on a cigarette.

Let's talk about professionalism for a minute.

So I just unfollowed a professional contact on twitter because of ableist jokes.  I'm not going to link to their profile, but know that they are an established professor.  Since I started grad school at my current university, I've been privy to a barrage of jokes, complaints, and outright animosity toward undergraduate students.  Moving from a relatively small, elite big city research institution to a very large rural one came with all sorts of culture shock, but the difference in faculty culture was perhaps the worst.  Hearing about it in the lunch room is one thing, but the "Dear Student" trend that has spilled over into the digital world is reaching beyond unprofessional into the vicious.  If you're somehow not familiar with Dear Student, here is a prime example at this public Facebook page.  This one happens to be anonymous, but many professors have not even gone so far as to conceal their identities.  The person I just unfollowed was contributing under their real name right on twitter, and they were definitely not the first I've encountered.