A message from Nicole S. Sampson, Dean
Dear Alumni and Friends,
Our beautiful campus is quiet today.
After two years of painstaking writing and rewriting, one of our undergrads is performing her musical -- to a virtual audience. A women’s, gender and sexuality studies major unexpectedly shortened their research trip to Geneva. A psychology major’s experiment with autism intervention will have to wait. All of our bench science researchers are now writing and reading, unable to perform experiments to complete their thesis work.
These are just a few examples of how life has quickly changed for our many students.
As Interim President Bernstein stated in a recent email to the campus community, the University has made difficult yet critical decisions over the past few weeks, including moving to remote learning, decompressing campus housing, and most recently, having all our laboratories stand down research activities.
These decisions were made in the best intentions of our students, faculty, staff and surrounding community in order to protect those most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection while fostering the ongoing success of our students. Unfortunately, these decisions may also pose new challenges for our community - in particular, our students.
At this very difficult time, we want to assure you that in the College of Arts and Sciences, we have the best interests of our students at heart. We can imagine the numerous emotional, physical and financial hardships so many in our community are facing and are bound to face in the days to come.
We are working tirelessly to explore creative ways to support our undergraduate and graduate students who are facing and will face financial struggles as a result of coronavirus challenges. Please consider visiting our website to learn how you can join our efforts.
Know that we are doing everything in our power to address the health and safety of the entire College of Arts and Sciences community, of which we proudly call you a member. I wish each of you, your families and loved ones well at this difficult time.
With gratitude,
Nicole S. Sampson