Hi UMPI Owls,

I hope you are enjoying the holidays and that you are safe and well. It has been a challenging semester for all of us and I’m very proud of our UMPI community for keeping us safer by wearing a mask, maintaining social distance, and staying home if not feeling well. These easy to do actions helped to keep the number of positive cases on campus low.

It is safe to say that 2020 was not a great year and that most of us are looking forward to 2021. There is hope associated with the start of a new year: hope that we will continue to be healthy and safer, hope that our family and friends will not be further impacted by COVID, and hope that our lives will be better as we move to a happier, post COVID, “new normal”.

New Year’s Eve is traditionally a time to gather with friends and family to celebrate. This year the situation is different. I encourage you to celebrate virtually as much as possible and keep your contact with others to a minimum.  Ideally you will celebrate in person with only those with whom you live. If you do choose to celebrate in a larger group, please make sure to wear a mask and keep a safe distance.  What you do on New Year’s Eve can have a big impact on all of us.

I look forward to seeing you in a few short weeks.

Happy New Year!

Matt