As of press time, the coronavirus situation continues to unfold. We hope this message finds you healthy and safe and able to make connections in some way with your loved ones and with your WPI family.

These are certainly unprecedented times—and WPI’s student-centered, problem-solving DNA is more evident now than ever before. We’ve moved all courses online for the remainder of the spring and for the summer, and we’ve done it with true WPI intensity: with thousands of Zoom meetings! The campus systems are holding up very well, thanks to our faculty, IT, all our student support teams, and many other campus partners.

Of course, it has not been all good news. In addition to canceling all spring events—from Alumni Weekend to student tours—as well as canceling most of our summer programs and moving the remaining online, we made the responsible but very difficult decision to postpone Commencement to a future date, still to be determined. With feedback from graduating students, we’re making new plans to honor our graduates with an in-person Commencement ceremony for the great Class of 2020 when it is safe to do so.

We wish to thank those within our community who are stepping forward in so many ways during this crisis to donate supplies and contribute to open-source engineering projects to meet demands for critical equipment, among many other efforts. (You’ll see a few of those stories in this issue, with more coverage to come in our Fall magazine.) We thank those of you who have supported the WPI Emergency Assistance Fund (wpi.edu/+emergencyfund), which is helping students and staff experiencing financial hardship from the COVID-19 crisis. Your generosity is more powerful than ever in these uncertain times and makes a difference in the lives of people who need it most.

We have seen our community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni rise to meet this challenge in so many different ways during these trying months. Even though much of the coming school year is still dependent upon the fluctuation of COVID-19, what is assured is that we will get through this together and emerge a stronger Goat Nation.

Stay safe and healthy,

Laurie Leshin

President

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