Campus Connection

Submitted by Jim Langdon ('85) for Campus Connection 3/28/2020

Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day.
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.

Mary Hopkin sang these lyrics about lost youth in 1968. If she sang them today, she might be accused of reflecting on the good old days—of mid-March. States across the nation and nations around the globe have since issued orders to stay home or quarantine due to COVID-19 community spread. You know it is serious when Milwaukee cancels Brewers baseball games, Wisconsin closes taverns and UWL closes [residence halls] after spring break.

You also know it is serious when the State of Wisconsin activates its State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) at Level 1. The SEOC in the Wisconsin National Guard Joint Force headquarters has since March 16 operated at full activation status due to the COVID-19 health emergency. State and federal emergency response agencies work in the SEOC 24/7 to coordinate activities covering the entire state and localities where community spread is happening most. I have a front row seat in the SEOC where I work 12 hours per day, 6 days per week to coordinate state human resource, information technology, budget and facilities resources deployed across the state.

This emergency is unprecedented in my 32-year state government experience; every other disaster (tornado, flood, wind, cyber-attack, etc.) was unforeseen, localized and could be solved by writing a check. At the risk of being brusque, the sequence was bury the dead, heal the injured, rebuild the community, pay the vendors and return to normal life on (insert date).

COVID-19 is nothing like that. Without action by everyone, infections will spread (was doubling every three days in Wisconsin) and hospitals will be overrun. The need to respond right now is so urgent I cannot contemplate a date when the emergency will pass. And as this threat continues, even the most skeptical persons will learn the virus does not discriminate. A person living on a farm in Sauk County is as susceptible to infection as his cousin in an apartment in Milwaukee. We’re all in it.

But there is hope. We can each prevent infection by social distancing at least six feet apart, avoiding groups, staying in our homes as much as possible and exercising strict hygienic practices such as frequent hand washing. Every day each one of us avoids COVID-19 is one step on the marathon to get past this damn thing.

In the end, personal character counts more than money in this fight. Discipline, knowledge, science, empathy, self-awareness and sacrifice will get us through this. Carelessness, ignorance, denial, privilege and greed will not. UWL’s motto mens corpusque (mind and body) takes on special meaning as we each practice self-control to protect ourselves and our communities from COVID-19.

I ask my UWL family to take this emergency seriously so we can all get back to living the life we choose.