Category: Messages from the University

Dear Parents & Families, As your student prepares for the fall semester at WashU, I wanted to bring a message to your attention that was sent to the campus community today regarding fall COVID-19 safety. We look forward to welcoming you to campus in a few short weeks. Warmly, Dr. G

Dear parents and families, I am writing to share an important COVID-19 update that we sent to our students this evening. The health of our community continues to be our highest priority and informing our students of changes to COVID-19 rates on campus is an important part of our strategy.  After many weeks of extremely […]

Dear parents and families, The following message was sent this afternoon to the Washington University community regarding updates to our masking policy.  Student safety and well-being remains our top priority here at Washington University.  Throughout the pandemic, our decisions have always been guided by the very best science and public health information available to us. […]

Dear Parents and Families, I am writing to invite you to join me virtually next Wednesday, January 19, from 4-5 p.m. CST for a Spring 2022 COVID-19 Town Hall. As we begin our spring semester, I thought it would be helpful for you to hear from me and my colleagues, given the many adjustments we […]

Dear Parents and Families, As we prepare for the spring semester at Washington University, I want to acknowledge that our two-week remote start is not how any of us anticipated beginning the semester. We know adjusting to changing operations is not always easy, and I continue to care and think about your student’s well-being. I […]

Dear Parents and Families, I wanted to share a communication with all of you that was sent this evening to our University community.  As we have been doing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we are closely monitoring conditions and carefully relying on the most up-to-date guidance provided by our own public health and infectious disease experts. […]

Dear Parents and Families, I am sharing with all of you a copy of the message our Washington University community received this afternoon about our fall plans for the Danforth Campus.  We continue to closely monitor COVID-19 conditions here in the St. Louis region as well as nationally and internationally.  As you can see, our […]

Dear Parents and Families, I am forwarding below an important message that was sent earlier today from Dr. Cheri LeBlanc, Executive Director of the Habif Health and Wellness Center, to all students about required COVID-19 vaccination documentation.  This documentation is due on July 15th.  There are several helpful links in the message should you have […]

Dear Class of 2024 & families,  We are excited to announce dates for move-in and Sophomore Welcome in fall 2021.  Move-In Day for students living in Residential Life-managed housing will take place on Thursday, August 26. Students in the Class of 2024 who have been remote for the full 2020-2021 academic year will have the […]

Dear Class of 2025 & families,  We are excited to announce our dates for move-in and fall welcome.  Move-In Day will take place Saturday, August 21*. You will be assigned a move-in time when your housing assignment is released in early July.  *International students, fall varsity athletics, Beyond Boundaries students, and students in certain named […]

Dear Parents and Families, We want to share communication that was sent to all Washington University students, informing them that we will be requiring all students to receive a COVID-19 vaccination before returning to campus in the fall.  Please see that message below. The COVID-19 vaccine will be a very important part of our overall […]

Dear Parents and Families, Please see below the message sent to our students on Thursday, April 8th.  The state of Missouri, beginning April 9th, is opening up opportunities to all students, who have been in Missouri for the past 30 days, to make appointments to receive the COVID-19 vaccine through the university. There currently are […]

Dear Parents and Families, I am forwarding a message that was sent earlier today to the Danforth Campus community from Chancellor Andrew Martin and Provost Beverly Wendland about the fall 2021 semester.  We continue to be optimistic in our planning while at the same time prioritizing the safety of our community.  Please continue to stay […]

Dear Parents and Families, Please see below the message I sent to our students earlier today.  We are seeing some very troubling signs related to the spread of COVID-19 in our student community right now.  Unfortunately, we are also hearing from some parents and families who are questioning our policies, expectations, and rules about quarantine.  […]

February 26, 2021 Dear Members of the Classes of 2020 and 2021, As we shared with you last month, we’ve been hard at work making plans to celebrate you and your accomplishments at Commencement ceremonies to be held in St. Louis this May. We appreciate your patience as we’ve explored what would be possible given […]

Dear Parents and Families, I am sharing the following message that was sent this afternoon to all Washington University students. We are fortunate that we continue to see a low number of COVID-19 cases in our student community, but as the message reminds us, the most important thing we all can do to keep each […]

Dear parents and families, I am passing along this message below that we sent this afternoon to all undergraduate students related to an update on our surveillance testing strategy.  As indicated below, we are doing this out of an abundance of caution as we start the spring semester, even though the results of our entry […]

Dear parents and families, I hope all of you have been enjoying a healthy and happy winter break with your students. As we prepare to resume the spring semester on Monday, January 25, I wanted to pass along an email that we sent this morning to all of our undergraduate students. Additionally, I wanted to […]

Dear parents and families, I am forwarding you an email that was sent earlier today from Provost Beverly Wendland related to a slight revision to our Spring 2021 Academic Calendar.  I wanted to make sure all of you were aware of this change.  Also, I wanted to let you know that we will be communicating […]

November 20, 2020 Dear undergraduate students, parents and families, I am writing today to update you on Washington University’s billing schedule for the spring semester.  For students registering for Spring 2021, bills will be issued on December 7.  Despite the shift in the fall and spring semester academic calendars, for administrative purposes and consistent with […]

November 13, 2020 Dear Danforth Campus Community Members: On behalf of the entire Washington University Dining Services team, we hope you and your family are staying healthy and safe. Our recent communications from Chancellor Martin highlighted the changing conditions in our region and our desire to continue to be vigilant and mindful of resulting required […]

November 12, 2020 Dear parents and families, I am passing along two additional communications that went out to students today about the Thanksgiving Break: one from the Chancellor and the Provost, and one from me.  As I am sure you are observing, conditions related to COVID-19 are continuing to worsen both nationally and here in […]

November 6, 2020 Dear Parents and Families, I wanted to alert you below to the message that went out this evening to all students, faculty, and staff at Washington University.  The safety of everyone in our community – including our students – remains our highest priority.  As we have been doing since March, we are […]

October 28, 2020 Dear undergraduate students who are studying in St. Louis and families, I am writing as a follow-up to my September 29 communication about Thanksgiving Break, which is scheduled for Thursday, November 26 through Sunday, November 29.  This message contains some very important reminders about safety for our entire community and also contains […]

October 8, 2020 Dear families, Please see below for a message sent to Danforth campus students about the flu vaccination requirement and free on-campus flu shot clinics. Sincerely,Cheri LeBlanc, MD October 8, 2020 Dear students, As you are aware, flu shots are mandatory for all students, faculty, and staff this year. Students are expected to […]

September 29, 2020 Dear students and families: Our fall semester is off to a very good start.  We hope those of you who are studying remotely are doing well, and we appreciate everyone who has made the commitment to be here with us in St. Louis and on campus, and we are grateful to everyone […]

August 31, 2020 Dear students and families: With many students set to begin returning to St. Louis this week, we are writing to share some important reminders and several updates related to our plans for COVID-19 testing. While this message is being sent to undergraduate students and their families, much of this guidance also applies […]

August 24, 2020 Dear Students and Families, We are writing to follow up to the communication you just received from Chancellor Martin and Provost Wendland, to share some additional, important information related to fall planning. First, we want to share a personal note. We know these past few months haven’t been easy on all of […]

August 24, 2020 Dear students and families, We hope this message finds you well and managing the circumstances of this unusual summer as smoothly as possible. Today was a significant day here on Washington University’s Danforth Campus – it was the first day of the fall semester for the Brown School and the School of […]

July 31, 2020 Dear Students,  Following the Chancellor’s announcement this morning, you may have questions as it relates to housing. In response to the current public health situation and recommendations from medical and public health professionals, the university has made the decision to move to single bed room occupancy in all residential buildings. While we normally […]

July 31, 2020 Dear returning upper-division students and families, I hope all of you are safe and well. We have heard from many of you this summer – we very much appreciate the many ideas and suggestions, and the words of encouragement from so many, as we strive to face together the big challenges before […]

July 31, 2020 Dear new Washington University students and families, As we have shared previously, we are so thrilled that you have chosen Washington University and we want to again extend our welcome to you, as our newest members of the Bear Family!  Without a doubt, your first year at WashU will be historic and […]

July 31, 2020 To our Danforth Campus community, For the last several months, we have been squarely focused on planning for the fall semester and the steps we will take to bring our students, faculty, and staff back to the Danforth Campus as safely as possible for teaching, learning, research, and community. We are writing […]

July 20, 2020 Dear Washington University parents and families, I am writing today to share a brief update.  As Chancellor Martin indicated in his email on May 27, we plan to announce our final plans for the fall semester by the end of this month.  We have been working very hard since the spring to […]

July 1, 2020 Dear undergraduate students, parents, and families, As Chancellor Andrew D. Martin shared in his May 27 letter to the community, Washington University has made changes to our 2020-2021 academic calendar to allow for a phased approach to bringing students and faculty back to campus.  The first day of classes for undergraduate students […]

June 19, 2020 Dear students, parents, and families in the Class of 2024 and new transfer students, Hello from St. Louis!  My colleagues and I were able to speak with many of you on a webinar on May 28th.  This week we launched a new website to provide insight into our planning process for the […]

Dear Incoming Washington University Students and Parents, We are writing to share with you, our newest community members, the message from Chancellor Martin that was just sent to all current Washington University students and families regarding our plan to return to campus in the fall. We hope this letter provides you with some answers to […]

Dear parents and families, We are forwarding below an important message that was sent out to the University community earlier today about the fall calendar. During the past few months, we have heard from many of you, sharing your feedback and suggestions for how we should handle the fall semester at Washington University. Two things […]

May 14, 2020 Dear Parents and Families, I wanted to share this message below that was sent today to about 2,800 undergraduate students who still have belongings in the University Residential Life properties on and off campus.  If you are the parent or family member of one of these students, we appreciate your patience and […]

April 29, 2020 Dear Washington University Students, This has been an historic and unprecedented end to the 2020 spring semester at Washington University.  We hope all of you continue to be safe and well, and that you are in the process of completing your final spring assignments and preparing for the summer ahead.  We miss […]

April 15, 2020 Dear Students, We hope this finds you and your families well, as we all are navigating this very uncertain time. You continue to inspire us with your determination and resilience, and we are so proud to see the many ways you are rising to the challenges of the current situation, and how […]

Dear students and families, Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic and in the best interest for the health and safety of the WashU community, Chancellor Martin announced on March 11 that we would shift to online instruction and restrict access to campus. Because of these steps, the university will be applying credits to student accounts […]

Dear parents and families, I wanted to pass along an email we sent this evening to students. We very much appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding with this difficult situation. If you have questions please let us know. Rob Wild, Dean of Students and Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs March 31, 2020 Dear Students, We […]

March 23, 2020 Dear Washington University Community, Alumni, and Friends, Greetings from Harbison House, the Martin Family’s new home since September, and my new “home office” now that Brookings Hall is closed for regular business with the university’s shift to remote work. Other than not going to the office or school like we normally would, […]

March 20, 2020 Dear Parents & Families, I wanted to pass along an email I sent this afternoon to students living with Residential Life. We so very much appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding with this difficult situation. We hope to have more information about next steps related to student belongings after April 6th. We continue […]

March 20, 2020 Dear parents and families, I wanted to pass along an email I sent this afternoon to students living with Residential Life. We so very much appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding with this difficult situation. We hope to have more information about next steps related to student belongings after April 6th.  Rob Wild, […]

March 18, 2020 Dear parents and families, I hope this finds you as well as can be expected in these challenging and unusual times. In our continued effort to keep you informed, I’m reaching out tonight to share with you an email Chancellor Martin sent to our university community earlier today. Please see below. While […]

Dear Class of 2020 students and families, I hope this email finds you and your loved ones safe and well — and please know how immensely grateful we all are for the sacrifices you are currently making to protect yourselves, your communities, the country, and the world. This is, indeed, an extraordinary time, and we […]

March 13, 2020 Dear parents and families, I wanted to thank you for your continued patience as we are managing this difficult situation with student belongings that were left in the University’s Residence Halls and Apartments. I wanted to make sure you had seen the letter that was sent to residential students this afternoon.  Again, […]

March 12, 2020 Dear parents and families, I wanted to share with you the email below that we just sent to students who reside in university housing here at Washington University. If you have questions please call the WashU Call Center at 314-935-8300 or 888-319-3527.  Rob WildDean of Students Dear Residential Life Students, We know […]