Announcements

I hope you are enjoying the fall semester! We have all been living, learning, and working on campus with many fewer restrictions than at this time last year, primarily due to our highly vaccinated community, our shared responsibility to stay home when not feeling well, and our evolving understanding of COVID-19. The following message contains important information about Penn’s upcoming COVID-19 booster clinic, in addition to guidance and reminders about campus protocols.

Penn’s future has never been brighter thanks to every member of our University community. We now have an historic opportunity to envision where Penn goes from here. I am writing to invite you to join as Penn plans for tomorrow, together. Led by a Red and Blue Advisory Committee, we are embarking on a University-wide effort to inform strategic next steps for Penn.

We invite you to celebrate Climate Week at Penn, which starts today, October 10. Begun as an informal initiative by students and faculty, Climate Week is now organized by the Environmental Innovations Initiative to highlight and promote the wide range of research, education, and outreach across our Schools, centers, and departments.

With heavy hearts, we write to share that Sarah Katz ’24, a student in the College of Arts and Sciences, passed away on Saturday, September 10, 2022, at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Sarah was pursuing majors in International Relations and Health and Societies and a minor in East Asian Language and Civilization.  

It is my pleasure to invite you to join the University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees in celebrating the Inauguration of President Liz Magill. A series of wonderful events has been planned for Friday and Saturday, October 21 and 22, to mark her official installation as the University’s ninth President. 

We hope that everyone has been enjoying a great summer. As we welcome those new and returning to campus for the upcoming year, we are writing to update you on protocols related to COVID-19 for the fall semester. Over the summer, we have continued to meet and consult across our community and with our partners at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Mandatory testing and classroom masking mandates on campus were lifted, and testing was consolidated at one PennCares location at 3734 Spruce Street.

The Penn community reacts to today’s SCOTUS decision, which directly affects access to safe abortions and reproductive care in many states throughout the country.

COVID screening testing will continue to be available on campus at no cost throughout the summer, and wearing a mask in indoor public settings is encouraged.

We look forward to seeing you, in the days ahead, at the joyful celebrations of our graduates and gatherings of our community and alumni.

We are very pleased to let you know that, in alignment with the changes announced earlier today by the City of Philadelphia, our campus will now operate at Protective Measures Level 1. This level means that masks are no longer required in indoor public spaces on campus.