Here’s How You Can Help Syracuse University Keep Your Student Healthy and Safe

Dear Parents and Families:

With our first week of classes nearing an end, we want to commend our students and our entire campus community for their collective efforts to stay safe. Despite a few bumps in the road last week, the vast majority of our students are respecting and following the protocols and public health guidelines that will allow our campus to remain open to in-person learning and residential living.

We remain diligent and communicative in tracking cases through our COVID-19 Dashboard, which is available for public view if you are interested in staying up to date. Of course, Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse continue to do remarkable work in keeping infection rates among the lowest in the country. To keep those numbers low—and to mitigate the spread of this highly contagious virus—we are limiting visitors to campus this semester, except in extraordinary circumstances. This protocol is described in our Syracuse University Safe Plan and has been detailed in several communications over the summer. We know it’s difficult for parents and families to be apart from their students, particularly after months of being together during the pandemic and with the approaching Labor Day weekend. But we need you to help us keep your students, our campus community, the City of Syracuse and your family healthy and safe.

As such, we respectfully ask that you avoid traveling to campus or the greater Central New York region this semester and also discourage your student from engaging in any unnecessary travel away from campus. We encourage you to stay connected with your student by phone, via Facetime, over Zoom and through other channels. Remember, your student is busy acclimating to campus; making new friends; establishing a routine; and settling into classes, which, as a reminder, due to the modified academic calendar are occurring on some weekends and Labor Day.

For now, your student, our faculty and staff, and the broader Syracuse community are safest when living in this protective bubble we’ve built and are working so hard to maintain. The bubble remains fragile; let’s work together to make sure it doesn’t burst.

We want your student here. We know you want your student here. Help us keep your student here!

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we work to accomplish that achievable goal.

Sincerely,

Amanda G. Nicholson
Interim Deputy Senior Vice President for Enrollment and the Student Experience

Missy Mathis-Hanlon
Director, Parent and Family Services