Update on Fall 2021 Planning

Dear undergraduate and graduate students,

For one year now, our lives have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been a time of significant challenge and uncertainty, throughout which our Wilfrid Laurier University students have experienced many personal and educational upheavals. You have demonstrated an exceptional spirit of resiliency. You have persevered with courses, research, teaching and research assistant responsibilities, organizing and engaging in virtual co-curricular activities, working part- and full-time, and volunteering and supporting others. I congratulate and thank you for all that you have accomplished this year.

This last year has not been easy. At the pandemic's year one mark, it is important to acknowledge who and what has been lost. I hope that you take some time to reflect on what we have experienced in the last year and engage in self-care during this time as many of us continue to experience uncertainty, separation from family and friends, loss of loved ones, and missed milestones.

The accelerating vaccine rollout in Canada promises us a return to some normalcy in the coming months. With this optimistic outlook, academic and administrative leaders across Laurier have begun preparing for a gradual, phased and safe return to in-person activities on our campuses for fall 2021 and winter 2022 terms.

Beginning in September, and scaling up throughout the academic year, we anticipate that more in-person teaching and learning, research, administrative, and student co-curricular and extra-curricular activities will be able to resume. Given that we anticipate some level of public health measures will still be in place in the fall, we are planning to offer a mixture of in-person and virtual courses and services.

I know that many of you have questions as you plan for the fall term. It is my promise that the university will share more details in April about the fall 2021 staged return to our campuses. The most up-to-date information on Laurier's response to the pandemic can be found on the Coronavirus Information Hub.

I hope that sharing the news of our planned and staged return to Laurier's campuses, within public health requirements, brings you some optimism as well as a chance to think about your own perseverance and successes this year. I look forward to the day when we can once again engage in all of the activities that foster the thriving community that is Laurier.

With best wishes for a successful and healthy end to your term,

Deb

Deborah L. MacLatchy, PhD
President & Vice-Chancellor