A Thanksgiving message to SPH faculty, staff, students, friends and alumni

Thanksgiving 1905

Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006“It oft behooves a State, as well as an individual, to look at the past, that it may realize the mercies for which it has to be thankful, and to give expression to its gratitude by words and acts of praise.”

Thus begins Governor R.B. Glenn’s 1905 Thanksgiving Proclamation. It’s a rather long document, listing many things from the previous year for which North Carolinians should be thankful, including, “we have been blessed with fair crops, and prices for farm products have been above average,” “the settlement of our outstanding debt upon a just and honorable basis,” “no scourge of disease or pestilence has to any great extent visited our State,” and “temperance and sobriety in all things are being practiced by our citizens.”

In his closing, Governor Glenn asks that North Carolinians take Thanksgiving Day to gather, pray, rejoice, and, above all, “while enjoying this holiday, that they do nothing unworthy of the reputation of the State.”

As we celebrate the traditional American holiday of Thanksgiving this year, we may find ourselves wondering what’s to celebrate given the economic bad news. I believe there is much to be grateful for, despite the hard times facing us now. While many feel buoyed by the steps President-elect Obama has taken to date, even he has cautioned that there are no easy fixes, and that we are in for a challenging time ahead. There is uneasiness in the world, and no one knows quite what will happen next. Our students and others worry where their tuition will come from. The world as we knew it a year or so ago is gone, and we are trying to hang on as the roller coaster rushes forward. It is scary, and the destination is unknowable. But from what I have seen of our School and this University, we are going to deal with these challenges in a fair, forthright and deliberate manner. We will survive this economic assault.

We feel the global economic crisis in North Carolina. At the School, we have spent weeks trying to allocate our 5% budget cuts (taken in several increments since the summer) fairly in a way that will cause the least pain to people and the least damage to our infrastructure. Each unit of the School has had to absorb these cuts, some more than others, as we follow the mandate from the Provost’s Office not to undermine our educational mission. Of course, that is difficult since everything we do ultimately is related to the educational mission. Nevertheless, we have delayed critical hires across the School, reduced some services, cut non-essential travel, and taken other actions to reduce costs. We are taking steps to save dollars wherever we can. For example, we are sending an online holiday card to save printing and postage and may have to cancel the spring issue of our magazine, Carolina Public Health, unless we are able to find a sponsor. These all are difficult choices, but protecting the people in the School is most important. I have been impressed by the way leaders in the School have come forward in unselfish ways to do their part. We are all working together.

Although units in the School have a tradition of great autonomy, it will be critical for us to work even more closely together to optimize our resources and to look out for employees and protect our mission. For example, if one unit has insufficient funds to support a particular full-time employee,  then perhaps another department can step up to share. I have seen this model work in other institutions. We have amazing faculty and staff, and I intend to do everything I possibly can, along with the School’s leaders, to preserve their futures here at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Our collective commitment, ingenuity and flexibility will be required to confront the financial challenges ahead.

We realize that the difficult economic environment is having a negative effect on everyone but on some more than others. Our retired faculty and staff are especially vulnerable. They worked hard all their lives, and now the safe harbor of retirement has become an icy inlet with little room to maneuver for the future. They, my parents and their generation lived through the depression and now may live in fear of the future. Will their savings last through their lives? I also have talked with staff and people in the community whose spouses and families own small businesses that are now one or two months from bankruptcy because of the cascade of financial fallout.

Our students and many others worry that they won’t have enough funds to pay their tuition and living expenses. When our students were hit with an unexpected tuition charge earlier in the term, they were appropriately outraged, and our departments stepped up to help, backed by the School. We won’t always be able to do this.

In the midst of so much angst, is there a reason to give thanks? Unequivocally, emphatically “YES.” First, we know from our colleagues who work around the world that however bad it seems here right now, it is not nearly as bad as it is in some parts of the world. We know historically that down markets are cyclical, and up markets do return. For all of us who have our health, we give thanks. As I walked home from a very intense workout at the gym Sunday, I realized how grateful I am that at an age that once was seen as really old (and still is in the eyes of the young), I am healthy and can work out for an hour and a half and still have energy left to do other things. For those of us fortunate enough to work in public health, we have the good fortune to know that we are doing work that matters. We live in a remarkable community in which people can be who they are and be accepted.  On the political scene, we saw a sea change in how Americans felt about elections, and we went to the polls in record numbers (for recent years). Our President-elect is a man of character, intellect, thought and action, and whoever we voted for, we will rally around him.

I am grateful to be Dean of this amazingly wonderful School and thankful for the wonderful staff, faculty and students who make this place excellent on a human scale. I am grateful to UNC leaders like President Bowles, Chancellor Thorp and Provost Gray-Little as well as to our School’s leaders. I am grateful to Robert Weaver, Joseph Love, Mae Beale and others who jumped in to help me get back up to speed after my computer was stolen a couple weeks ago. I also am grateful for the many generous friends who support the School through their financial gifts and concrete assistance. I am grateful to the alumni and friends who’ve met with me and our external affairs staff in the past year and shared their stories about what our School has meant to them. The deep feeling of our friends and colleagues for the School and the commitment to work with us to advance our goals is awesome. I have been impressed by the many people who have come forward in the last year to help us. And last but not least, I am grateful that basketball season is upon us!

Best wishes to you all for a very happy, healthy holiday. My thoughts are with those of you who are ill and those who lost children, spouses, parents, friends and others in the last year.

As I look out on a very crisp blue Carolina day, I cannot help but believe that better days are coming. Happy Monday and happy holiday with my warmest wishes. Barbara