Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Our Plan for Fall 2020

Thursday, April 16, 2020, By News Staff
Share

Dear Members of the Syracuse University Community:

Since our founding 150 years ago, Syracuse University has withstood the challenges of our time. Through it all, it’s been our people—students, faculty, staff and alumni—who have enabled our ability to navigate challenging times and emerge stronger for the experience. As we navigate the immediate challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, our daily decisions, actions and assumptions are based in cautious optimism that Syracuse University will resume residential instruction in fall 2020. As always, we will follow the guidance and direction of local and state health officials, as well as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in all of our decisions.

It’s true that a return to campus in the fall will likely require us to embrace new practices and set new conditions related to places and spaces where we learn, study, conduct research and work. However, I am confident that the ingenuity, creativity and resilience that define our Orange community will position us to overcome these challenges in a way consistent with our longstanding commitment to academic excellence. To that end, I have asked administrators, faculty and staff to develop plans for multiple fall opening scenarios. Central to each of those scenarios will be to prioritize the safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff and our community. It remains my hope and intention that we will be welcoming students back to campus this fall.

At the same time, we must honestly and collectively acknowledge the unprecedented financial stress imposed on our university. Over the past five years, we have worked hard to strengthen the financial position of the institution, in doing so preparing the University to weather an unforeseen crisis such as the one we face today. The uncertainty ahead combined with the financial toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has already levied on our university requires us to take bold actions. We will make these choices with care and intent to protect our community and secure our future as a world-class and student-focused research institution.

The COVID-19 pandemic has tested us in unforeseen and difficult ways. We have been pulled away from our campus and forced to learn and work differently, and many of us have felt the impact of this pandemic on a personal level. I know this uncertain time hasn’t been easy, and I am incredibly proud of how our university has responded. I am reminded every day through your actions of what it truly means to be Orange.

Sincerely,

Chancellor Kent Syverud

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Student’s Mobile Upcycled Clothing Business Turns Trash Into Treasures
    Friday, August 22, 2025, By Diane Stirling
  • Q&A for “Will Work for Food,” a new book exploring labor and the food chain
    Friday, August 22, 2025, By Ellen Mbuqe
  • Chaz Barracks Fuses Art, Scholarship and Community in Summer Residency
    Thursday, August 21, 2025, By News Staff
  • Welcome Week 2025: What You Need to Know
    Tuesday, August 19, 2025, By Kathleen Haley
  • How Otto the Orange Spent Their Summer Vacation (Video)
    Tuesday, August 19, 2025, By News Staff

More In Campus & Community

Heartfelt Gift Recognizes Accomplished Alumna and 3 Generations of Orange

William Pelton and Mary Jane Massie have created the Barringer Pelton Public Service Graduate Scholarship to honor their niece, Jody Barringer ’95, L’98, G’08 (M.P.A.), and support future public servants. After working for a few years as an attorney focused…

Families Offer Words of Wisdom During Welcome Week Move In (Video)

Nearly 4,300 new undergraduate students arrived on campus this week, many of them with families and cars filled to the brim. As families help their children settle into their home away from home, they’re also sharing advice for the year…

Chaz Barracks Fuses Art, Scholarship and Community in Summer Residency

With a GoPro strapped to his helmet and a microphone clipped to his bike, Chaz Antoine Barracks spent the summer pedaling through Homer, New York, transforming everyday encounters into both scholarship and art. The filmmaker, media scholar and postdoctoral fellow…

The New York State Fair: Everything You Need to Know

Late August in Central New York not only means the return of students to the Syracuse University campus, but also the return of the New York State Fair. The fair is a 13-day festival of entertainment, agricultural exhibitions, cultural performances…

Department of Public Safety Celebrates Graduation of 9th Peace Officer Academy

On Aug. 14, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) welcomed families, friends and colleagues of the 9th Peace Officer Academy recruits to a graduation event. The ceremony, held at Drumlins Country Club, was the perfect culmination of their accomplishments over…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.