Message to Alumni from Chancellor Blank

Fellow Badgers,

I hope you are taking care of yourselves and your families as we all deal with the coronavirus pandemic. This is a time of substantial uncertainty, and UW–Madison, like universities around the world, is in uncharted waters.

For all of you, our Badger family, I want to provide a brief update on how we’re managing through this.

Earlier this week we made the decision to shift away from in-person instruction and instead focus on alternative delivery of instruction for the rest of the spring 2020 semester. This wasn’t an easy decision, as I believe deeply in the value of face-to-face teaching and learning. However, our highest priority is to keep our campus community healthy and safe and to do our part to slow the spread of the virus. We have been working nonstop with faculty and instructors over the last two weeks so that they are prepared with virtual tools to continue offering the quality education for which UW–Madison is known when classes resume on March 23 after spring break.

Although we no longer have classroom instruction this semester, many students remain in Madison, and we’re continuing to host a number of students in our residence halls who are unable to return home for various reasons. In addition, we are working hard to enable as much of the research enterprise to continue as possible. Some research will be suspended because of the personnel and facility challenges we’re facing due to the pandemic, but we are committed to ensuring that we continue lifesaving research, including new research aimed at understanding and finding a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

Following health guidance, we have canceled university-sponsored travel and events for the near future. We have not yet made a decision on the May 9 commencement ceremony but expect to do so in the coming days. (UPDATE: See message on commencement plans.)

We are committed to completing the tasks that are vital to next year, including finishing out the admissions season. Many high school students wish to become Badgers, and we are planning to welcome them.

I hope you’ll follow news and developments on campus as you are able. It’s clear that the university, as well as some of our students and staff, could face financial problems as a result of this crisis, and we are doing what we can to mitigate those effects. Some of you have reached out to ask if there’s a way you can help students who may face financial hardship. We have set up the Emergency Student Support Fund to help those who are in need.

We are all in this together, and we’ll get through it. Thank you for your continuing support.

And on a somewhat lighter note, we congratulate the men’s basketball team on winning the NCAA Championship using Joe Lunardi’s famous Bracketology tournament on ESPN.

On, Wisconsin!

Rebecca Blank
Chancellor