Hi there, Huskies,
Thank goodness for the upcoming break. This one is so well deserved, and I wish you all fun, good health, and REST!
First (queue up Queen’s classic hit, “We Are the Champions”), WINNING seems to be a theme this week. ROCK ON basketball, UConn Equestrian, track, Biochem midterms, internships applications, O-Chem labs … all of you faced challenges over the course of the past week.
Midterms are hard. The Big East is hard. COVID is hard. Yet all of you are finding your way to success. As a friend at the Graduate School often says, success is rarely a straight line. We zig, we zag, but we get there nonetheless.
In the meantime, I’ve been in meetings. A few highlights:
Task Force for Combating Sexual Violence and Supporting our Students: We had our first meeting last week. We reviewed all relevant policies as well as important past work on this subject. The Task Force website is live and will include information from past meetings.
Bias Action Group: This incredible group of students, faculty, and staff met for the first time on Monday. This group is working towards its purpose of reviewing incidents and determining opportunities for increased dialogue on campus. Dr. Tuitt and I are grateful to the members of the group for their insight and guidance in identifying opportunities for our community to address hate and develop trust at UConn. On a more immediate note, members were struck by the InForm site that was created and encouraged me to make it more broadly available to students. Check it out.
This works matter and it will be impactful. I hope you all know that these groups are filled with members of the University community who care deeply for all of you and for UConn. What is abundantly clear to all of us is the work that needs to be done to regain trust, address harm, and restore UConn as a community that cares for the well-being of all of our students.
I wish you all a healthy and happy break. COVID tests are available to you at the Student Union on the Storrs campus and on each of the regional campuses before and after break. Please remember that it is important to test when ill and observe a period of isolation regardless of your vaccination status. If you test positive using an at-home or outside lab test, please upload your positive test results to the SHaW patient portal.
Be well, Huskies. I’m looking forward to seeing you back on campus.
Eleanor JB Daugherty, EdD
she/her/hers
Associate Vice President and Dean of Students