Dear Colleagues,

Congratulations on bringing a challenging Fall Quarter to a successful conclusion! Through all the difficulties, uncertainties, and changes we have encountered day by day, you have persisted and helped others to stay the course.

Your solidarity as a community and your frequently expressed compassion for colleagues and students have been truly remarkable. Your creativity has enabled us to keep acting as a university, a place where knowledge is created, taught, analyzed, shared, and deployed for the benefit of society.  

Through your nationally-recognized efforts as part of Return-to-Learn, you have enabled our students to live safely on campus, when that was their best option for continuing their studies. And through equally important, though less visible efforts, you have enabled them to learn from wherever they were living, to have co-curricular experiences that pulled them into community with their peers, and to engage in research and career exploration as pathways to their futures.

During this period, I’ve been especially impressed by the array of new collaborations that have sprung up in all parts of the university. At the very time when public health concerns have kept us physically separated, you have found fresh ways to share ideas and build on one another’s experiences, so that UC San Diego can continue to evolve and excel.

Thank you for all of the inspiring work you have done this fall. I hope you will take time for some well-earned rest and renewal during the winter break.

Warm wishes for the holidays,

Elizabeth H. Simmons