Dear Members of the Lehigh Community,
On this snowy first day of classes, I wanted to write a brief note welcoming back students and wishing everyone a safe and positive start to the spring semester.
The past several months have been difficult for many, requiring the juggling of work and school with family and personal responsibilities. Some have lost friends or family members to the virus, battled illness themselves, or struggled with additional mental and emotional stress.
Despite these difficulties, members of the Lehigh community continue to support one another. Faculty and staff have worked to bring the Lehigh experience to life in new ways for students studying remotely and to make campus spaces safe for those in Bethlehem. Students are persevering and making progress toward their degrees, and the quality of a Lehigh education remains undiminished.
All of us look forward to the day when life looks closer to normal. The vaccine provides us with a measure of hope, but the stakes are still high, and we are still months away from the rollout’s completion. By this point, wearing masks, social distancing, washing your hands, and other protocols are muscle memory, but their importance bears repeating. These are our best defense against spreading and exposure to the virus.
Over the past few weeks, you have received and will continue to receive COVID-related information. Stay updated and remain vigilant in your practices. The foundation we build in these first few weeks is important and will be critical to our ability to open up more activities later.
I am optimistic that these combined efforts and the lessons we’ve learned as a community over the past several months will help us to be safe and successful. We can do this—let’s start the spring semester strong, together.
Sincerely,
John D. Simon ’19P
President