Dear students, faculty and staff members,
The halfway point of this very challenging fall semester is behind us. Before we know it, final exams, Thanksgiving, Commencement and the holiday season will be here. Then, a new year and a new semester will begin.
Dear students,
I hope your fall semester is off to a great start!
Mine is. I spent this morning among my favorite people as I helped greet you and other returning students, faculty and staff members along Rex Street and St. Mary Boulevard.
This welcome back event is something we do at the start of every academic year, and it’s always filled with excitement, energy and a sense of anticipation about all the incredible opportunities a new semester holds. This morning was no exception.
Dear students,
The Fall 2020 semester begins Aug. 17, and we’re looking forward to welcoming you back.
We’ve used the past few months to prepare for your homecoming. Our extensive and careful planning reflects the unwavering priority we place on your health and safety.
Some of you will return physically to campus to take classes or to live in residence halls. Others have enrolled in remote and online courses that empower you to select what instruction option best fits your needs.
Dear faculty, students, staff members, alumni and friends,
Our University has a long and deliberate history of diversity and inclusion.
But we have, as a nation and as an institution, reached a moment in which simply pointing to the past without pledging ourselves to improving the future is insufficient. This history would be hollow if we failed to reaffirm our commitment to racial equity and social justice through meaningful action.
Dear members of the University family,
George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. Tony McDade.
Their tragic deaths – and those of countless others – are reminders that our nation has much work to do to address discrimination, intolerance and other inexcusable barriers to social justice that have burdened us for far too long.
Universities are a place where that work can occur. Indeed, they are a place where it must occur.
On Friday, the University graduated the largest and most diverse class in our 122-year history, capping an unprecedented semester in momentous fashion.
We conferred 1,905 degrees, an all-time high for a single semester. Women received 1,173 of those diplomas; that’s nearly 62 percent of the total graduating class and yet another record. Eighty-eight degrees were awarded to Hispanic graduates, the most ever.
Dear students, faculty and staff members,
The month of March witnessed immense changes across our campus and in the lives of most members of the University family.
We cannot yet anticipate fully what April might hold as the world continues to grapple with the effects of COVID-19.
In uncertain times such as these, it is important to catalogue the things for which we are grateful. It is equally as essential to thank those special individuals whose mere presence – even from a socially appropriate distance – offers the comfort and support we all need right now.
Dear students, faculty and staff members,
When the semester began in January, none of us could have anticipated the unprecedented nature of what lay ahead. Yet our University family has reacted to this extraordinary moment in characteristic fashion – with the same ingenuity, courage, optimism and compassion it has displayed time and again when challenges have arisen.
Over the past several weeks, I have been inspired by the countless acts of generosity our students, faculty and staff have undertaken.
Dear staff members,
As rates of confirmed COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Louisiana, so does the possibility that University employees will be directly affected by this dangerous virus.
First, it is essential that all employees prioritize their health and that of their families. Should you or a loved one exhibit COVID-19 symptoms – a fever of 100.4 degrees, a cough or difficulty breathing – seek medical care as soon as possible.
As preventative measures:
Dear students, faculty and staff members,
Today, we learned that one of our students has tested positive for COVID-19. This is the University’s first confirmed case of the virus.
Let me begin by asking all of you to join me in offering thoughts and best wishes to the affected student as they recover.
This student does not live on campus, nor were they a student resident this semester. The student did not exhibit symptoms while on campus, which current understanding suggests reduces the likelihood of transmission.
