Dean's Community Message

April 5, 2020

Dear College of Engineering Community,

I hope you are doing well on this Sunday. As you certainly know, the impact of COVID-19 continues to spread. Our thoughts go out to those on the front lines of this global pandemic, the healthcare workers who are doing everything in their power to keep pace even while putting themselves at extreme risk, as well as those who have passed and families impacted in so many ways.

Yesterday, one of our esteemed faculty members — Steven Schiff, the Harvey F. Brush Chair in Engineering — reached out to me with a note. Steve had just attended a Zoom memorial for a surgeon and colleague in New York who died last week due to the coronavirus. Steve reported that other physicians at the virtual memorial service were also sick with the virus.

This experience reminded him of a passage from Albert Camus’ novel The Plague (in French, La Peste), which I wanted to share with you. The scene is a conversation between Rieux, a physician, and Rambert, a journalist:

Rieux: “… there’s no question of heroism in all this. It’s a matter of common decency. That’s an idea which may make some people smile, but the only means of righting a plague is common decency.”

“What do you mean by ‘common decency’?” Rambert’s tone was grave.

“I don’t know what it means for other people. But in my case I know that it consists in doing my job.”

Our primary job right now is to stringently adhere to social distancing guidelines wherever and whenever possible. I know it’s challenging, but the health of our friends, neighbors, and colleagues — the ability of our entire healthcare system to respond to this immense challenge — depends on all of us showing this common decency. We should all do our part!

I hope the end of your weekend is restful and healthy. Regardless of where you are in the world, we want to stay connected. Please reach out to share your individual stories and anecdotes: of challenges, successes, local heroes, etc. You can share those with our response team email address (L-COE_CORONA_CRISIS_TEAM@engr.psu.edu) or, if you prefer, to me directly at dean@engr.psu.edu. In your email, please note if it’s okay to share your submission in the daily email.

Penn State updates are available on the University’s coronavirus information site. You can connect with me on LinkedIn and follow the college on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Be well!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering