A Spring 2021 Message from Dean Brett Steele
Spring is a time of transformation and reawakening. A time to consider how we’ve grown, what we should leave in the past, and what we want to take with us into the future. This feels especially relevant after a year in which we have wrestled with so much loss and change.
As spring takes hold and the pandemic begins to wane, I can’t help but think about how this past year has changed us. How we have had to pivot and adapt in all aspects of our lives. How we’ve lost loved ones, a sense of security, hugs and high-fives among friends, and so much more. But with all that the pandemic has removed, what remains reveals what matters most.
For me, that’s family and community. This lesson is a kind of gift, born from hardship.
This period has also forced us to acknowledge the social divides that can no longer be tolerated. For our community, bound by a desire to create and a yearning for justice, this year has redefined our limits, revealed the strength of our character, and unleashed a renewed commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion that has set us on a new course as a school and as a community.
As artists, dancers, designers, architects, scholars, and creators of all kinds, we are inherent optimists. We continue because we must and because we believe that, through our actions and through our work, we can shape a better future.
So, as we move through spring quarter, let’s take the time to check in with ourselves, and those with whom we are in community. Let’s take stock of the behaviors and practices that guide our day-to-day lives and make sure that we are living them with meaning and purpose, that our creative practices are aligned with our values, and that we are leaving the world in better shape than we found it.
Uncertainty and change have been the only constants of this past year, and that remains true today. As fellow Bruins and members of this school community, I am convinced that we will return stronger and more committed than ever to the essentialness of our work.
I wish you all a restorative and healthy spring.
Be well,
Brett Steele
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