Murdock Hall at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

THIS ISN’T ANOTHER COVID think piece written by a college president. This is a story about upward mobility in the face of the most significant public health crisis of our lifetime.

COVID has changed the landscape of higher education in ways I couldn’t have predicted back in the spring of 2020. We have seen countless approaches to keeping students safe in the time of COVID-19, and those approaches have continued to evolve. We’ve seen colleges shut their doors or move fully online, then return to campus, then go remote again. Many schools, including Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, require proof of vaccination, which continues to be the most effective way to preserve health and safety among our campus communities.

MCLA is now entering its fifth pandemic semester. Our students are accustomed to letting us know what they want, and we work to offer them opportunities to be empowered leaders, effective communicators, and empathetic listeners. After institutions were forced to go remote in spring 2020, our students overwhelmingly told us they wanted to be back on campus as soon as possible. So, we did everything we could to make that happen, and make it happen safely.

We have learned a lot and applied it well—while we did see a handful of COVID-19 cases among the community during fall 2020 semester, there was no spread from these cases on campus, and the college’s positivity rate was 10 times lower than the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

These pandemic months have been some of the most challenging in my time as a college president—but MCLA has weathered the storm. Our mission guides us in good times and bad; our community commitment to access and affordability plays out on campus in infinitesimal ways every single day.

In the nascent days of the pandemic, our three full-time health services staff were working on contact tracing 12-14 hours a day. They coordinated almost 5,000 COVID-19 tests on campus. At least 40 other faculty and staff members helped volunteer at the testing center alone, and many people stepped in to help with contact tracing. People frequently called our Wellness Center to see if there was anything they could do to help. That’s truly a reflection of our community, who are helpful, friendly, and willing to do what it takes for our students and our campus community, even in the face of great challenges.

In fact, our faculty and staff are so dedicated to this mission that we’ve received national recognition for it— MCLA is No. 21 on US News and World Report’s list of the 50 public and private “Top Performers on Social Mobility,” which measures how well schools graduate students who receive federal Pell Grants. These grants are typically awarded to those whose families make less than $50,000. MCLA was also ranked as a 2021 Top Ten College by US News and World Report for the third consecutive year. It has maintained its position in the top 10 list for nine of the past 11 years.

Nearly half of MCLA students are Pell Grant recipients, the highest percentage across the Massachusetts state university system. More than 40 percent are the first in their families to go to college. Nearly 85 percent of students receive some kind of financial aid.

These are students who need support in their academic journey. Many are balancing work and family commitments. Many are coming from urban areas and are discovering what it is like to live in a rural area for the first time. Many have no frame of reference for what a college experience is like. They are discovering who they are, and who they want to be, in a time of global upheaval, and many of them have seen increased economic insecurity as a result of COVID-19.

What does a commitment to social mobility look like during a pandemic? Allow me to offer some examples.

  • In 2020, MCLA kicked off its TRiO Program, supported by a $1.2 million federal grant, which works toward increasing the retention, good academic standing, and graduation rates of low-income, first generation, and disabled students. This program serves up to 160 students a year.
  • MCLA’s Office of Admission adopted a test-blind policy in 2020 and waived SAT requirements for students applying for the fall 2021 and 2022 semesters.
  • In 2020, in response to economic uncertainties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, MCLA established the Resiliency Fund, which has to date distributed nearly $300,000 to 296 students in need.
  • The MCLA Food Pantry combats student food insecurity, supported with student volunteer work and donations.
  • MCLA boasts over 100 of its own private scholarships, including five new additions since 2020.
  • Through the pandemic, our colleagues in the student counseling center responded to the impact a national mental health crisis had on our community with incredible empathy and efficiency. During the fall 2021 semester, 160 students made appointments to see one of our counselors—a 67% increase over the previous fall, with students making an average of five appointments each, a 30% higher average than last fall. Despite this significant increase, there were no waiting times for students to see a counselor.

Like all other schools, MCLA has seen its enrollment decline as a result of the pandemic. But still, we continue to serve these students well. We continue to graduate our high-need students at higher rates than the national average, and the vast majority of MCLA graduates—93 percent—land jobs or get accepted into some of the finest grad schools in the country. Helping our under-resourced students achieve a college education will help them earn more in their lifetimes, find fulfilling careers, and live meaningful lives. Public colleges help contribute to furthering economic equity every day, and we are proud to make this part of our mission as an institution.

Despite a pandemic, economic upheaval, social and political turmoil, supply chain issues, and all the rest, MCLA continues to be a way for these students to open new doors, have new experiences, and live fulfilling lives, personally and professionally. I’m incredibly proud of all our students, as well as our incredible faculty and dedicated staff, who are changing individual lives and working toward a more equitable future.

James F. Birge is the president of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.