18 March 2020
Greetings again as we make our way through this second week of lockdown. I hope you are safe and well and coping with the restrictions that are in place to protect us.
I mentioned in my last e-mail that there are significant challenges for us to respond to the situation in which we find ourselves. However, we can work together to ensure that we protect this semester and at the same time provide students with what they are entitled to and not disadvantage them in what and how we offer that.
During this past week I have kept in touch with Dr. Irene Hazou, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and have had contact with a number of faculty members. I am very impressed and proud of the way I understand faculty members are responding. To be faced with having to make such a radical change so quickly in relating to students is very difficult, but to see the way so many faculty members are getting in and finding ways to engage students so they do not miss out, is inspiring and I thank them for doing that.
There are also staff members who are working to find ways to prevent this semester being lost. I am grateful to them for their commitment to Bethlehem University and for the efforts they are making. I am particularly aware of the extraordinary work Philip Daoud and Tina Hazboun have been doing to enable faculty to use e-learning so students are not disadvantaged because of this disruption.
What has also impressed me are stories of faculty and staff working together to support one another and discovering ways of doing things they would not have thought of by themselves. I see this as a wonderful example of being brothers and sisters to one another – a truly Lasallian approach to challenges!
I mentioned in my last e-mail about the campus being disinfected. We have been asked by the Ministry of Health to have as few people as possible on campus. The whole campus will be disinfected again before we reopen, so we hope this will mean it is a safe place when people return.
These are testing times, but we will come through this much stronger and more focused. I pray God’s peace will be with you and that you will have the wisdom and courage to do the best for our students in whatever way you can.
Best wishes and thank you for your commitment.
"Don't be discouraged by anxieties and troubles. Life is full of them."
-- St. John Baptist de La Salle
Brother Peter Bray, FSC, EdD
Vice Chancellor
Bethlehem University in the Holy Land
