Ask the Dean is a weekly column by MTU’s Dean of Students, Dr. Wallace Southerland III, where students can submit questions for him to answer. To submit a question, email lodesubmit@mtu.edu
Q: “What are you most lookig forward to in the spring semester?”
Dear Huskies:
Happy New Year! I hope your winter break was relaxing, reflective, and rejuvenating. Welcome back to another exciting semester at Husky Headquarters. I wonder if you were one of the students I called randomly on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? I am looking forward to some good (and odd) questions this semester.
Okay, so, people probably think I’m going to say that I am most looking forward to “Winter Carni” this semester. Nope! While it is true that I am, indeed, looking forward to my second Winter Carnival and all the good food that I hope will be there (e.g., Army ROTC and AFROTC pancake and waffle competition that I’m judging), that’s not my answer. Or you might think that I am most looking forward to April’s commencement so I can HuskyUP and get out of here for a short vacation. Nope, that’s not it either.
Tech’s Division of Student Affairs is making 2023 “The Year of Kindness at Michigan Tech.” So, what I am most looking forward to is watching, hearing about, and learning about all the ways we will be kind to each other at Tech. It is true that we should be kind to ourselves and each other every day and every year and not brag about it — yada, yada, yada. But this year, we will intentionally, unapologetically, and unabashedly promote, celebrate, recognize, talk about, teach about, and model kindness to ourselves and each other all…year…long.
During this Year of Kindness, we want to teach and celebrate that “HuskyUP” means: kindness, civility, respect, listening, family, community, belonging, and caring. We have free posters if people want any of these or people can get them in a pack of eight – all for FREE! Contact deanofstudents@mtu.edu.
So, Huskies, if you haven’t really thought about being kind to yourself or to others, this is a great time to start. Stay tuned for more information throughout the year.
Kindest regards,
Dr. S.
The VP and Dean of Huskies
