Dear AFRE Community,
As we end the third quarter of the year, I end my first three months since taking the baton from Titus Awokuse as chairperson of our Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics. I have much to learn, but I’m grateful to be surrounded by a terrific community of mentors, young and old. The past three months have been eventful.
MSU’s return to in-person study and work on campus is the top headline. President Sam Stanley Jr.’s decision to require both vaccination and masking was questioned by some but welcomed by many. A small number of our students have been diagnosed with COVID cases, but no teaching faculty have been diagnosed since the term began. So far, we are threading the needle. MSU’s COVID dashboard shows positive, reported COVID case numbers declining after a jump the first week of class, and no AFRE course has had to shift to remote learning.
It truly feels good to be back together in person on this lovely campus. Gathering with incoming undergraduate majors back on the patio behind Cook-Seevers Hall in late August, the sun was shining and the energy level high. While giving a visiting class in ecological economics last week, the lively questions were energizing. On top of that, both of AFRE’s graduate student welcome events saw record turnouts—more evidence of excitement to be together. The campus tailgate scene before last Saturday’s Nebraska football game channeled the same upbeat energy. Happily, the anticipatory energy was rewarded with a remarkable, come-from-behind victory. Go Green!
