Message From the Chancellor (COVID-19 July 14, 2020 3:23 p.m.)

Delayed, again

Dear Texas Woman’s Community,

I hope this message finds you well, even as the country and state see a spike in positive COVID-19 cases.

It is the impact of this spike for which I write to you today. We predicated our plans to bring employees back on the assumption that community spread would be decreasing. We had hoped that by now the contagion would be well under control, and we would be doing our part at Texas Woman’s to mitigate transmission locally by instituting social distancing protocols and guidance from public health experts.

Since COVID-19 cases are not going down, we need to postpone the date by which we plan to have most staff working from their offices to August 3. This delay will give Texas a little more time to turn things around. Our staggered move-in plan and quarantine guidance from the NCAA have some of our athletes scheduled to move into the residence halls on August 3. I hope we will be ready.

This virus is demonstrating how interdependent we are as individuals in a society and even in a global economy. While we may desire stability and certainty, we depend on others. I am still holding out hope that together we can stop the rapid spread. At the same time, we also have to be realistic.

If we could come together and sing kumbaya, now would be a good time. Since we cannot, we will keep planning for multiple possibilities, collaborating with agencies and other universities, and watching the numbers with hope for a better tomorrow.

With a pioneering spirit,

Carine M. Feyten, Ph.D.
Chancellor and President

Page last updated 3:37 PM, July 14, 2020