May 15, 2020

Dear Bishops and Vocation Directors,

As we come to the end of our spring 2020 semester, we reflect on how this pandemic has affected us and the blessings we have gained because of it. We have come together as a community to assist each other through our prayers and sacrifices and have grown closer in our relationships. We have also practically seen the power of prayers as we drew closer to God for strength in these precarious times.

The seniors have completed their coursework through the online format and I am excited to say that they have done so with excellent results. There were several seniors that earned a perfect 4.0 GPA for the spring semester, and not one of them had a grade point average below 3.2. The degrees are conferred as of today, May 15, 2020, which was the originally scheduled date of graduation.

Currently, we are planning to recognize our seniors during a graduation ceremony that is tentatively scheduled for July 17, 2020, at 3:00 in the afternoon. We will hold our Baccalaureate Mass and graduation ceremony in the Abbey Church which will be followed by an outdoor reception. As our plans come together for this event, I will keep you apprised.

The remainder of the students are taking exams next week with all final grades due to the academic office by Tuesday, May 26, 2020. All remaining students will leave the campus by Friday, May 22nd thus allowing those seminarians who have been away from campus to come and retrieve their belongings following the procedure outlined by Fr. Wallis in his email to the students yesterday, which can be viewed here.

We have collected responses from our End of Year Survey of the men and I wanted to share their assessment of how they viewed the effectiveness of the online format. We asked, “The academic office’s response to the pandemic was satisfactory.” 80.9% strongly agreed or agreed with this statement. We also asked, “For purposes of online classes, Canvas was a satisfactory tool for the academic curriculum.” Here, 90.5% of the students strongly agreed or agreed to this statement. In reference to our Learning Center’s transfer to an online format, the students were asked to respond to the following statement, “The Center for Academic Excellence response to the transfer to online services was effective.” 45.8% of the students strongly agreed with this statement and another 25.3% agreed. I was also pleased with the smooth transition that we were able to make this online format. It was a credit to our dedicated faculty and staff who spent numerous hours researching and implementing the best practices available for this adjustment to our teaching methods.

We have begun the discussions about the opening of school for the fall, 2020 semester, and plan to do so on time. We are paying close attention to all CDC recommendations and guidelines as to what this reopening will look like. Click here to view the plans and recommendations from the Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (LAICU) for your reference as to what other institutions are planning for the fall. In light of this information and with the knowledge that we currently have, let me say that we are a unique campus in that we have better control over our population and if conditions continue to improve, I see no reason why we cannot resume business as usual in the fall semester.

As the seminary administration and I look at various possible scenarios and should the need arise to adjust the schedule for next semester based on unforeseen occurrences, we are much more informed about this virus than we were a few months ago. We are in a better position to respond if certain eventualities of this virus reemerge.

Our fall orientation program will take on a new format as well. This will involve some online information sessions in regards to Student Life, Financial Aid, and Living on Campus; however, we do realize that parents will want to come and view the facility, especially parents of the new men who are entering for the first time. We are investigating how this can take place while maintaining proper protocol.

I know that this pandemic is not over and some of the projections for the fall look bleak but with a strong faith in our community, our supporters and our God, I will look to move forward with cautious optimism that our fall, 2020 semester will return to a condition of normalcy, working toward the formation of our young men for the priesthood.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Gregory Boquet
President-Rector
Saint Joseph Seminary College