We’re back.
The new semester started a few weeks ago, but Monday was the first day we returned to in-person instruction. Our campuses are busy again, our residence halls are full, and our lecture halls, seminar rooms, labs, studios, and libraries are back in action.
It’s great to see the Pace campuses returning to life.
We kept our first two weeks of instruction this semester virtual, so we could de-densify our campuses through the Omicron surge and also ensure everyone was able to stay engaged with their classes, even if quarantine or isolation was required. I’m pleased to report that our reopening has gone smoothly and safely, with just a handful of students needing to isolate after positive tests.
Even better, the encouraging trends at Pace University are reflected in our broader community: The country at large and especially our local areas have seen a rapid decrease in test positivity since just a few weeks ago. In New York City, the average rate is roughly a third of what it was two weeks ago, and less than 15 percent of where it stood another two weeks before that. In Westchester, it’s less than half of two weeks ago, and under a fifth of two weeks before that.
We’re keeping a close eye on numbers at Pace, and we anticipate that we’ll be able to reduce our COVID Alert Level soon. (We’re still waiting for results from this week’s tests.) I’m hopeful that sometime over the coming weeks we’ll be able to get back to green—but even now we’re starting to get back to the kind of connection and interaction we so prize about our campus experience.
We’ll have more news on that very soon, so be sure to keep checking your Pace email.
For now, welcome back to in-person Pace, and welcome back to a resurgent New York City and Westchester County. I’m excited to be able to see all of you soon; I’m excited to cheer on Setter athletes and applaud our long-awaited Actors Studio Drama School rep season; and I’m excited to get back to enjoying everything our campuses, our city, and our region have to offer.
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