Messages &
Speeches

We have been hearing from so many of you about how great it is to be back on campus, and we agree – it has lifted our spirits to have so many students back on the Forty Acres.

As we begin the fourth week of the fall semester, we wanted to thank all of you for your tremendous efforts during this challenging time. We continue to hear from many students who are thrilled to be back on campus enjoying a near-normal college experience.

As the semester gets underway, we are mindful as campus leaders that all of us are experiencing a difficult start of the semester, made tougher by the case numbers in our surrounding community. We hear and feel these concerns ourselves, and we deeply appreciate the thought and concern members of our community are putting toward the start of a successful academic year.

Mental health is one of the most challenging issues facing society at large and our university community in particular. We’ve all been touched by it in some way as individuals, but we don’t have to deal with it alone.

As the fall semester approaches, welcome back to another school year on the Forty Acres. Clearly, we had all hoped that the launch of the year would have been very close to normal, but, as with many of our late summer and fall plans, things have become more complicated and stressful as the delta variant has spread throughout Austin and Texas