Recently, in a moment of seeking clarity and concrete information about the ongoing return to face-to-face instruction, I sat down with this piece from the Chronicle of Higher Ed: “The Semester of Magical Thinking.” This article from late August gathers a number of first-hand accounts of the return to on-campus instruction and life from a variety of stakeholders (staff, students, faculty, administrators) on a variety of college and university campuses (across North America, featuring PWIs and HBCUs). The overall picture we emerge with is pretty unsteadying; I think this turn of phrase from Cecilia P. Lloyd at the City College of New York encapsulates the current moment aptly: “We’re building a bridge as we cross it.”

I’m left thinking about — and feeling haunted by — the unreliability of the ground we’re all navigating at present and the enormity of the emergencies that could shape the coming weeks and months. One thing I keep coming back to in particular is the way that different folks have to differently shoulder the changes, stresses, pivots, and crises that are showing up on campuses across the world, and with what unequal sets of resources and support networks. We’re lucky not to be dealing with these crises while also underwater, as compared with many of our colleagues in the New York City area, but I wonder what we can do to most effectively brace ourselves and folks to whom we’re responsible as the new quarter draws close.