15.04.2020,
In recent written and live streamed remarks to students, faculty and staff of the ITI, Rector Alting von Geusau remarked how fragile and very limited we are as human beings that an invisible, inaudible and little known microscopically small virus has brought Man’s world to an almost complete standstill and plunged it into widespread suffering, uncertainty and looming economic meltdown not known since World War II. For those however, he asked, who are willing to look beyond that, “have you noticed that God’s world has NOT come to a standstill at all but continues apace, peacefully and with determination?” “Nature in all its Spring glory is bursting with life and completely unaffected by our human-made catastrophe. The sky has been a beautiful blue for most of the past weeks and the birds sing their songs at the top of their lungs, whilst trees and flowers are waking up. And we human beings? We find ourselves thrown back to what is most essential in our lives: personal prayer and our families and communities.”
Hence, what Pope Francis had to say during the Urbi et Orbi Eucharistic Blessing to the world on Friday March 27th was prophetic:
“This Lent your call reverberates urgently: “Be converted!”, “Return to me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12). You are calling on us to seize this time of trial as a time of choosing. It is not the time of your judgment, but of our judgment: a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not. It is a time to get our lives back on track with regard to you, Lord, and to others.”
On April 2nd the Academic Council had to make a difficult decision that was however obvious in light of current circumstances: it was decided that the ITI’s Plan B as outlined in the Alternative Teaching Plan will now come into full force and effect, meaning that the ITI will continue teaching online and long distance until the end of the semester and that students and faculty will not be asked to return to campus for the remainder of the academic year 2019-20. All those graduating at the end of this academic year will be able to do so and the ITI will now start with making plans for graduation itself on June 6th whilst faculty members have been asked to prepare for all final exams to be conducted through online means.
It was furthermore decided in light of current events that the application deadline for new students will be extended for all programs to August 1st. Finally, and very importantly, the ITI leadership will start drawing up plans for the likely scenario that the global crisis continues beyond the summer and how the ITI will adapt to this situation, making it a priority for current students to be able to continue studying at the ITI or for those applying to the ITI, to be able to commence their studies here.
You may access our YouTube Channel to view the Rector’s weekly live streamed messages to the students, as well as videos of all Liturgies on campus: https://www.youtube.com/user/ITITrumau/videos On our YouTube channel, you may also find many videos of lectures and conferences held at the ITI.