November 24, 2020

Dear UM Family,

I want to personally thank you for your tireless work this semester. The past nine months have been the most challenging of my career, and I am sure this has been true for many of you as well. Having been witness to faculty and staff members’ impressive efforts to ensure our students could keep on learning, I feel especially grateful this holiday season. I address this in the video below.

Students choose UM because of our commitment to put their success at the center of all we do, and I am proud that we delivered on that commitment during this unprecedented semester.

In UM’s 127-year history, there has never been a semester quite like this one. The pandemic challenged our University in every facet possible – from classroom instruction and advising to housing, dining, transportation and more. In the face of these challenges, we not only responded effectively and kept our positive caseload minimal, but also played a key role in battling the pandemic. UM researchers are hard at work developing a second-generation vaccine for when the virus morphs, our public health faculty are modeling case data for the county to help public officials make important decisions, our UM Genomics Core and Curry Health Center are processing COVID tests every day and our business faculty are providing support to entrepreneurs fighting to keep their business open.

As you reflect and relax this Thanksgiving weekend, I hope you also take the time to congratulate yourself for your contributions to this monumental achievement. As we look forward, we will need to muster the courage and energy to continue keeping our campus safe during the spring semester. What we accomplished together this past semester gives me confidence we will be successful again, ensuring every UM student can continue their education during the pandemic.

Thanks again and have a happy Thanksgiving.

Seth