Dear Antioch Community:
Please see the notice below. I will follow up tomorrow with faculty, staff, and students with some ideas about our way forward and some updates, especially about how to connect with essential university services (HR, IT, Registrar, etc.) so that you continue to get your needs met. These days have been difficult, and there will be struggles ahead for all of us, but we know that we are struggling for good reasons. Please take care of yourselves and your friends and loved ones.
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To: Antioch University Students, Faculty and Staff
From: Chancellor Bill Groves and University Leadership
Subject: Temporary closure of Antioch campus facilities through April 30, 2020
Our collective efforts to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus will be the only difference between catastrophic levels of sickness and a shorter pandemic that will take a less destructive course. We all hope for the latter, but we are also increasingly aware that half-measures and less disruptive steps will not do what is needed to avoid an unacceptable outcome.
So in order to protect the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff, their families and communities, we will be temporarily closing Antioch facilities in Seattle, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Keene, and Yellow Springs, Ohio through April 30, 2020. Members of our campus leadership have been planning for such an eventuality and will continue to pursue arrangements for remote instruction and work, as well as for the maintenance of essential services. The Seattle Campus will close on Wednesday, March 18, at 4:00 p.m. All university instruction and campus services will continue remotely.
As has been noted from the start of this crisis, our absolute first priority has to be everyone’s health and safety. The rising numbers of students who have been exposed to the Covid-19 virus and the exponential growth of the numbers of cases across the country make this decision unavoidable. Drastic and immediate actions at the local, state, national and global level are taking place, and we believe that these are essential to our collective and individual well-being. We all must do our part by acting quickly to minimize opportunities to spread the virus.
I recognize the extraordinary effort on everyone’s part as we pull together to hold together. Thank you is clearly not enough, but there are few words that can express our appreciation for your commitment to our students and Antioch.
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Benjamin S. Pryor, Ph.D.
Provost
Antioch University Seattle
