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Our motto is “freedom and learning.” At our core, we are a place to teach, learn, and improve our understanding of the world. For most of us, this sudden turn of violence is confusing and frightening, and we need help to make sense of what is unfolding.

We have met our goal of keeping our COVID-19 testing positivity rates consistently below 4 percent for the past several weeks, and the latest guidance from the CDC indicates that all of our domestic campuses are at the “Low” level of transmission, which now means the CDC no longer recommends that masks be required indoors.

It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic news of the death of Michael Buschmann, Eminent Scholar and Chair of �鶹��Ƶ’s Bioengineering Department in the College of Engineering and Computing. A scholar, university leader and man of compassion and integrity; his untimely death saddens all who knew and loved him.

�鶹��Ƶ’s positivity rate – the percentage of those being tested who are positive for COVID-19 –remains consistently far below the 4 percent threshold, at 0.38 percent. This success, combined with �鶹��Ƶ’s 95-percent overall vaccination rate, as well as the continued overall drop in COVID-19 spread throughout the region and nation, now make the pivot to optional mask-wearing more viable.

�鶹��Ƶ is winning the battle against COVID-19. We have not won yet, but we are close.

Anne Gentry has been named �鶹��Ƶ's interim University Counsel effective immediately.

This spring we are guided by three goals for success: preserving health and safety, minimizing operational disruptions, and stopping the spread of the virus to hasten the end of the pandemic.  We urge administrative and academic units to review their contingency plans and update them as appropriate.

We will open as planned on January 3, and the spring semester will begin as planned on January 24. We will require all faculty, staff, and students to obtain a booster shot as soon as they are able, and provide proof of the booster to �鶹��Ƶ. And we will continue our indoor masking, testing, and �鶹��Ƶ COVID Health Check requirements.

Prioritize your health and safety. Here are a few departing reminders to help ensure that we close out this year happy and healthy!

Soon we will significantly reduce required COVID testing for most who are fully vaccinated, and will offer free tests to any member of the university community who wishes to be tested, regardless of their vaccination status. The �鶹��Ƶ community has earned this rollback in testing through its collective diligence in taking the many precautions to keep COVID at bay.

�鶹��Ƶ is initiating the largest-scale surveillance testing protocol of any Virginia university, in which our goal is to test up to 13,000 members of the �鶹��Ƶ community each week.

As COVID-19 infections increase in our region, especially the prevalence of the Delta variant, effective immediately, our university again will require all individuals on our campus to wear masks indoors, including classrooms and laboratories, regardless of vaccination status.