DCC E-NEWS [THE REST OF THE STORY]

DCC PLANNING TO BE FULLY OPEN THIS FALL

Dear Current and Future Students, Faculty, Staff, and Parents:

We are facing an unprecedented situation that has no doubt had a great effect on all of you and your families.  In the face of uncertainty, our DCC community has been flexible, resilient, creative, and gracious.  I applaud all the hard work of both our faculty and staff and our students as you have adapted to a remote learning environment. I am honored to be part of a community so dedicated to pursing our mission despite the significant challenges.

By the grace of God, DCC has launched a robust schedule of summer online courses, along with the most generous summer scholarship ever offered by DCC.  I have no doubt that God’s hand was in this since this was planned months ago.  We plan to continue this program to enhance our already impressive presence in online learning at DCC.

But what about the 2020-2021 academic year?  We are wrestling with the implications of the pandemic across higher education.  No one knows what our national and local situation will be in August and beyond.  However, DCC is planning to fully reopen this fall with the appropriate protocols to ensure the safety and well-being of our community while fulfilling our mission of educating and mentoring students.   In other words, we plan to be operating at full capacity on campus and online.

Again, DCC’s leadership is fervently working to open safely and develop procedures and protocols which are aligned with recommendations and requirements made by the CDC, the State of Texas, and local authorities. DCC is embracing the gift of being a relatively small, nimble community that has a long history of innovation and flexibility.  We fully expect that our approach to things like class sizes, cleaning protocols, dining arrangements, and large gatherings for events like chapel and athletic games may be modified.  Will such precautions be inconvenient?  Perhaps, but I must admit that I am optimistic and even a little excited to see how our team of faculty and staff adapt and innovate in such an environment to serve you in ways that are as good, or perhaps even better, than before.  We serve a God who brings beauty and joy out of ugly and sad situations and we expect Him to work through us in that way. 

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of remaining flexible and adaptable to a constantly changing situation.  Although we are putting immense effort into ensuring that we are able to open the campus safely, we are also making alternate plans that will ensure that you, our students, are able to pursue God’s calling on your lives, and that your education remains deeply meaningful and transformational in scenarios where campus experiences are fully or partially unable to occur for given time periods during the academic year.

I want you to be confident, both in our Lord’s provision for you and for DCC, and I would ask that you pray for both.  So, be assured that DCC is working to make the 2020-2021 academic year a safe and productive one, and that the One for whom we do all of this, Jesus Christ, will never fail us.

Sincerely,

Dr. Brian Smith, President