Dear Students,

We might still have some winter ahead of us, but early spring weather has been arriving on the Evergreen Campus this week. I hope you’ve enjoyed the milder weather and the chance to be outside with friends.

Virtual Family Weekend
We look forward to welcoming families for our Virtual Family Weekend this weekend. You can find out more details and see the full schedule on our Family Weekend site. I am looking forward to greeting families with a live update and Q&A tomorrow, Feb. 26, from 7-8 p.m. You can register to attend through this registration link. I look forward to seeing many families there.

Fall 2021 Planning
We are actively preparing for the Fall 2021 semester at Loyola, and we are committed to offering as many in-person experiences as the health conditions permit. The Spring semester is offering us the opportunity to put our meticulous planning into action, and I am so proud of our students who are making decisions to keep themselves and our community healthy and safe. I am confident that our planning will continue to serve us well for the fall, and we will be planning with an eye on health, safety, and offering in-person education and experiences.

We anticipate that the public health situation will be better by the time students are returning to campus in late August. At the same time, we do not know yet how much masking and social distancing will still be part of campus life in the fall. I want to assure you we are working on our plans and outlining options that will be flexible enough to allow us to continue to offer an exceptional education and experience to students.

We will be striving to offer as many in-person classes and experiences as possible, but we will also continue to offer remote options for students who need to continue to study remotely for themselves or for their family members. We are still defining the criteria for students who want to choose that option, but we'll share that information with you as soon as we have that set. 

I know how much we all want things to be normal, and all our planning will be undertaken with that in mind. We may have to carry over some of this semester’s COVID-19 operations to the fall, but I assure you that we expect the fall to be less restrictive and offering much more in-person interaction for everyone.

Your Intentions for Fall
As part of our planning for fall, we are asking every returning student to let us know your intentions. Students and their families should have received information from student life about the housing process. Whether you plan to live in Loyola housing, live off-campus, or study abroad, we need you to let us know your intentions for the fall to help us with your planning. You will be asked to pay a deposit, but please know that payment will be applied toward your tuition, room, and board for the fall.

You can learn more about this Student Life requirement on the Returning Student Webpage.

Conclusion
We have much to celebrate as a community as we look at a relatively low number of positive COVID-19 cases—and recognize that our students who have had COVID have had mild to no symptoms and have all recovered. I encourage you to remain vigilant and continue to make decisions to keep yourselves and our community safe. Together, we are making this a safe and healthy semester, and I am so grateful to you for helping make that happen.

Sincerely,

Rev. Brian F. Linnane, S.J.
President