Dear UT Community,

Today, I received the very sad and painful news that one of our staff members passed away after a short battle with COVID-19. This staff member — who we are not yet naming out of respect for the family’s privacy — was beloved by many in our community and had spent a decade on the Forty Acres, working tirelessly behind the scenes in Utilities and Energy Management to ensure that our university could operate at the very highest level. Our hearts and minds are with the family, friends and co-workers of our colleague, who are now grieving this terrible loss.

Our Utilities and Energy Management team member has not been on campus since mid-September and is believed to have contracted COVID-19 off campus. The university’s contact tracing has not found any spread of COVID-19 within our community related to this case. But it is vital that we remain as vigilant as ever in our commitment to mask wearing, social distancing, proactive community testing and all other measures related to combatting this disease. There can be no letup — until there is a vaccine, we have to protect our own health and that of others, particularly those most vulnerable.

Our nation has lost over 200,000 lives to COVID-19, but when we lose one of our own — a proud member of Longhorn Nation — it hurts on the deepest possible level. Again, the thoughts and love of our entire community are with the family of our wonderful colleague, whom we lost far too soon. Please think of them today.

Sincerely yours,

Jay Hartzell
President