Saints Strong: A COVID-19 Semester

spring: learning and working amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Determined to support one another, as well as our greater surrounding community, the Abbey, faculty, staff and students rallied. From the Abbey's generous gift of emergency scholarship support to students; to faculty and staff adopting new technology and rearranging classrooms to comply with health and safety guidelines; to the University working with organizations like Lacey MakerSpace and Thurston County Food Bank to meet community needs, all Saints rose up to the challenge. u

Saint Martin’s worked diligently to offer a mix of modalities for classes fall semester. About one-third of the classes were online-only, one-third were in-person full time, and the remaining third were a mix of inperson and online instruction. To prepare, new cleaning protocols were implemented and faculty and staff organized summer workshops to assist with moving classes to a hybrid model or fully online. Thanksgiving break was extended to a full week, and after Thanksgiving, all instruction was moved to remote to mitigate exposure during a possible second wave.

In May, the Saint Martin’s Abbey made a commitment of $3.5 million to Saint Martin’s University to support students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, marking the largest gift that the Abbey has made to the University. More than 1,000 Saint Martin’s students have benefitted from the Abbot Neal G. Roth, O.S.B. Saints Care Emergency Fund. Over the summer, 454 one-time scholarships ranging from $500 to $3,000 in amount were awarded to new, incoming first year, transfer, and graduate students. An additional 645 scholarships were awarded to returning or continuing students. The gift, named after Abbot Neal Roth, who retired in May after 27 years as abbot and chancellor, was made for the sole purpose of providing direct emergency aid grants for Saint Martin’s students.

When COVID-19 hit, personal protective equipment (PPE) quickly disappeared, leaving front line workers, doctors and nurses in trouble. Local makers volunteered with the Lacey MakerSpace—a partnership between Saint Martin’s University, the City of Lacey, and Thurston Economic Development Council Center for Business and Innovation—to produce these vital face masks and face shields. Together with Arbutus 175+ VOLUNTEERS Folk School and South Salish Mighty Masks, 2,160+ the Lacey MakerSpace FACE MASKS SEWN was able to produce 1,840+ thousands of vital supplies FACE SHIELDS 3D PRINTED and distributed to hospitals, clinics, homeless shelters 200+ LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS HELPED and schools.

In March, at the beginning of the pandemic, the Thurston County Food Bank and the City of Lacey approached Saint Martin’s to be a remote food distribution site to help keep up with the growing needs of area families. The Grand Staircase parking lot at the foot of Old Main was easy to access and could accommodate a lot of people. The partnership made sense, speaking to Saint Martin’s Benedictine values of community and justice. Staff, faculty, students 17 and alumni regularly volunteer and POP-UPS ON CAMPUS SINCE APRIL assist with the food distribution. 3,000+ HOUSEHOLDS SERVED 384

FAMILIES SERVED THE WEEK OF THANKSGIVING

Despite taking on a very different look and feel from years past due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Move-in Day at Saint Martin's University was still a memorable event for students during the start of the 2020–2021 school year. Using an innovative staggered check-in schedule spread out over two days (Aug. 27–28), students checked into residence halls one at a time, receiving assistance from fellow mask-wearing, social-distancing Saints, who volunteered to help out first-year students make the transition to campus living. u