Dear UMPI Community,

Last week, we reached an important milestone as a campus and I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and celebrate it. As we’ve shared in messaging and reach-outs since the beginning of the semester, Oct. 15 was the date by which students needed to verify their COVID vaccination or obtain an exemption from the University of Maine System’s vaccination requirement. I am so pleased to report that 100% of our students verified their information by Oct. 15.

This was no small feat and our gratitude goes out to each and every student, as well as the many UMPI employees who helped with outreach and communications, in order to accomplish our goal. Not only does this help us to meet the System’s vaccination requirement on time, it serves as an incredibly impactful defense against the spread of COVID-19 within our campus community going forward.

My thanks to everyone who has played a part these past weeks in ensuring the safety of our campus community, from meeting the vaccination requirement, to taking part in additional testing after the fall break, to closely following health and safety measures every day. We’re asking for everyone to continue that vigilance as we finish out the fall semester. Please continue to follow all campus health and safety protocols. Wear face masks indoors. Continue social distancing. Limit visitors in dorm rooms to no more than 4 people. And do so knowing our top priority: to keep each other safe. With numbers spiking significantly within Maine, now is not the time to let down our guard.

Looking forward to safely and successfully closing out the fall semester. With much Owl pride,

Ray