From the President: Connections Vital to Viterbo
The school year is successfully underway, and we at Viterbo couldn’t be happier to have students back on campus.
COVID-19 remains the biggest obstacle to the traditional college experience, but the initial results at Viterbo are encouraging. The number of cases we are dealing with early in the semester were expected. A public COVID-19 Dashboard is available to keep everyone apprised of the latest case count. Viterbo community members are meeting this challenge by continuing to follow health and safety guidelines.
In other good news, the theme of this month’s newsletter is Viterbo’s community partnerships. Under the leadership of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration for more than 120 years, Viterbo has always been an integral part of the greater La Crosse community. Sisters educated countless area children, founded an iconic healthcare institution, and built the area’s premiere fine arts facility on the Viterbo campus.
To this day, mutually beneficial community partnerships remain very important to the current and future success of the university. Each semester, hundreds of Viterbo students have the opportunity to serve at local clinical placements, internships, and schools. Thank you for this, and I am confident each one of them has made a positive contribution to their respective health care institution, business, or organization.
While this fall is unlike any other in memory, the Viterbo campus remains especially beautiful when the leaves turn their vibrant colors. I wish everyone a great autumn and I hope we can all take some time to enjoy the season.
Glena
A Message from Jerry Berns, Board President
I begin with a question to our current Board of Advisors members. When you were asked to serve, what did you visualize/internalize as your role on the board? I am sure whoever requested your membership was keenly aware of your many talents and abilities that could be fruitful and productive when shared with other community minded people to promote Viterbo University.
A construct that benefits me with this question is that I can be helpful to Viterbo by being the “eyes and ears of the community,” both of which are helpful to the university administration and staff. By observing and sharing the many joys, concerns, and impressions I can assist with the larger vision of Viterbo in the La Crosse area. Perhaps we as a board could/should spend more time pondering what we as individuals can offer.
In my many years as a school administrator, counselor, and teacher, I learned the values of connections. Connections with the community made up of critical institutions, individuals, and families were (and are) extremely important not only in recognizing current issues or problems but more importantly in solving problems or improving the climate.
What things make us proud? As a board member we all have influence, so how do we choose to use it? Many of us can utilize our careers to support Viterbo. Lynn Sturm, current vice president of our board reminded me that there is an array of opportunities for student connections through internships, support, and involvement.
A few months ago we were invited to support scholarships needed during this time of COVID-19. I have learned that our board rose to the occasion with its generosity. I personally want to thank everyone who made their contribution to this appeal.
I wish to commend President Glenna Temple and her administration for taking on an overwhelming challenge of continuing higher education in the age of COVID-19. We ask her to let us know how we can continue to be helpful.
Finally, we are always appreciative for the kindnesses extended to us on the board to attend theatrical performances in conjunction with our board meetings. One final challenge: consciously think of one thing, no matter how large or small, that you can offer to the Board of Advisors in what remains of 2020.
