On Thursday, President Biden appealed to world leaders for a renewed international commitment to attacking COVID-19. Biden’s motivation came from the approaching milestone of one million deaths from the virus in the U.S. The president said, quote, “Today, we mark a tragic milestone here in the United States, one million COVID deaths — one million empty chairs around the family dinner table.” unquote.

Minnesota suffered record amounts of heavy rainfall and live tornadoes during a Wednesday night storm. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses are without power across southern Minnesota as of Thursday morning. Authorities say one person died due to the storm. A 30-year-old woman was killed when the vehicle she was riding in collided with a large truck in southwest Minnesota.

The University of St. Thomas’ Dougherty Family College has a new dean, Buffy Smith. The announcement was made Wednesday in an email to the St. Thomas community. Smith, who will begin as dean on July 1, has been with the two-year college since its founding in 2016. She has worked hard to create opportunities for its students. Smith has advocated strongly for DFC to be reflective of its scholars, celebrating their heritage and their successes.

John Martinez can be reached at mart5174@stthomas.edu.