University Updates

As we anticipate will happen from time to time, COVID cases have begun to rise again in many parts of the country, including here in Alachua County. Accordingly, we are asking for your help as the University of Florida takes steps to keep our students, faculty and staff as healthy as possible.

We are happy to share that we are updating our mask guidance in light of the latest declines in COVID-19 case numbers and new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and our UF Health experts.

Dear campus community,

As the COVID-19 pandemic transitions to an endemic and the omicron surge rapidly declines, the University of Florida is adjusting its approach to this next phase of the virus in our community.

As we prepare for classes to start next week for the Spring semester, we want to make you aware of some important new information regarding the university’s response to the significant rise in Florida and nationally in cases of COVID-19 due to the omicron variant.

The State University System has had a very successful fall semester, and we are looking forward to welcoming you back on campus for the spring. The key to this success has been two-fold. First, we worked together to implement new health and safety policies and procedures for preventing the transmission of COVID-19 on each campus. Second, and equally important, was the responsibility and ownership each of you took to create a safer environment for everyone on our campuses. Each of you who have accepted this shared responsibility deserve a lot of credit for making this a successful semester.

With the holiday break quickly approaching and the Spring semester just around the corner, UF is monitoring the rising prevalence of the omicron variant around the country.

On May 5, 2020, the University of Florida launched the UF Health Screen, Test & Protect initiative in partnership with the Florida Department of Health to test, diagnose and contact trace for COVID-19 among the university community, including all students, faculty and staff.

As we prepare to welcome students for the Fall semester, we recognize the uncertainty people feel about being back on campus and in the classroom. We are closely monitoring the virus as we make decisions about university operations. As always, we will communicate these decisions with you.

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff, 

COVID-19 cases are surging because of the new delta variant and the large numbers of people who are unvaccinated, setting new local and state records for hospitalizations. 

All of us at the University of Florida have an obligation to each do our part to prevent further transmission of COVID-19. We are in this together, and each and every one of us plays an important role in furthering the health and safety of ourselves, our neighbors and our loved ones. It is the right thing to do — and medical experts say vaccination and masking are the best ways to do it

State University System Students:

We are excited to welcome you to our campuses next month! To help us provide high-quality classes, student services, extracurricular activities, and athletic programs in a healthy environment, we strongly recommend that all students get vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus before arriving on campus.

Armed with three vaccines and a much better understanding of the dynamics of the virus, UF is preparing for its first full fall semester schedule since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The new virus emerged suddenly last year with devastating impact. But remarkably, in less than 10 months, scientists and doctors produced several vaccines that are exceptionally safe and effective against the virus.

Given recently released national guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and in concert with the State University System, the University of Florida will make masks optional rather than required for students, faculty, staff and guests on UF property and in UF facilities effective immediately. Those not fully vaccinated for COVID-19 are recommended to continue wearing masks, according to CDC guidance.

Within UF Health hospitals or other patient-facing clinical facilities, including dentistry practices and veterinary hospitals, masks will continue to be required. UF Health will support UF in implementing these policies as safely as possible and urges those who have not been vaccinated to do so. 

With the Spring semester now behind us, we would like to remind our faculty of the additional burden many of our international students are carrying given the COVID-19 situation in their home countries. Not only are many of them facing difficulties with traveling, renewing visas can be an issue as well. We encourage you to reach out to students who may be struggling and to explore all of the support resources UF has to offer. 

As the Spring semester wraps up, our post-pandemic future is starting to take shape.

With half of all U.S. adults having received at least one dose of the vaccine, the success of the vaccine drive at the Champions Club at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium breathes new hope and excitement as we plan for the Summer and Fall semesters. Through the collaboration of UF Health Screen, Test & Protect and the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County, mo

As we wrap up the Spring semester, our thoughts and preparations are turning naturally to upcoming semesters.  With increased availability of vaccines and increased rates of vaccination, we anticipate UF will be able to resume full and normal operation in Summer B and Fall semesters.  What does this mean?

Greetings Gators, 

I hope everyone is doing well. As the semester winds down, our vaccination efforts are in full swing. And we have some new ways for you to get into the mix and be a part of the effort to end the pandemic.

What a fantastic, record-setting effort we had last week: more than 17,250 people vaccinated at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium through our collaboration with the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County and with the support of Gator athletics — most of them students! Let’s keep our foot on the accelerator and put an end to the pandemic. We’re here to help and can get you in and out fast. 

Through UF Health’s collaboration with the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County, we expect approximately 20,000 people will be vaccinated by the end of business Saturday — an ambitious goal that soon will help UF and the Gainesville community return to a more normal way of life.

As you no doubt have heard, last week Governor DeSantis expanded eligibility for vaccination — so now anyone 16 years and older in Florida can register to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. 

April has always been my favorite month. The weather is unbeatable, another school year is close to being in the books, and, well, it’s when I mark my birthday. After passing so many “speed limit” birthdays, I am surprised how excited I still get over the prospect of chocolate birthday cake. But this April is even more special.

I write today to let you know that based on the advice of our epidemiologists at UF Health, we are planning to return to a largely normal course offering for summer B and fall.

I hope you are all doing well. Since my last message two weeks ago, the unprecedented drop in new cases of COVID-19 has stopped, both locally and on campus. There is no clear pattern, just a plateau in cases over the last two weeks. 

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to decline at UF, statewide and nationally, we are hopeful that we have entered into a new phase in our fight against COVID-19. So far this month, daily cases have been mostly in the single digits, dipping recently to 58 total cases for the week ending on March 7, an all-time low since the start of the pandemic. 

In light of all the loss, suffering and costs imposed on humanity by the pandemic, it is easy to dismiss that the inability to indulge in the simpler comforts and routines of our lives all exact a toll that is difficult to measure. 

Next week marks one year since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Florida. During that time, the University of Florida community has risen together to fulfill our mission and commitment to students.

The University of Florida this spring will hold in-person commencement ceremonies for the first time in more than a year, marking the return of a cherished UF tradition.

I hope you are all doing well. With these messages, my goal is to provide updates on COVID-19, especially as it relates to UF, including our interpretation of the data we are collecting, commentary on new information, and a plain-spoken, fact-based assessment of where we think things are going.

With the number of COVID-19 cases decreasing on our campus and locally, we are grateful for your continued commitment to health habits that minimize virus spread. As we find ourselves a little over a month into the spring semester, we commend our faculty and staff for their continued dedication to providing an excellent academic and research experience for our students.   

Since my last message, a lot has happened. As has been the case with everything related to COVID-19, new developments and information updates come fast, so here is the quick rundown on the latest:

As January comes to a close, we’d like to thank all of you who have worked so hard to ensure our students continue to experience a top-quality education, whether in person, HyFlex or online.

As we wrap up our first week of the spring semester, we’d like to thank our faculty and staff who have worked so hard to make sure our students have every opportunity to succeed, whether in the classroom or online. We understand the transition to more in-person class sections has been a heavy lift and a team effort across the university.

I write to warmly welcome you as we begin the first day of spring classes. This is always an energizing and busy time, but we also begin this new year facing the growing spread of COVID and the aftermath of last week’s reprehensible attack on the U.S. Capitol and our democracy. 

When it comes to a public health challenge like the pandemic, it’s understandable to want a quick and clear solution. Yet navigating a global crisis of this nature often takes a somewhat more complex course, with many people taking many steps toward the goal that together work to effect the change we seek.

As we enter the Spring 2021 semester, it is to be expected that members of the community will engage in essential travel directly connected to assigned university duties.

As we start a new year, a time filled with hope and promise as we emerge from a year that all too often has had its share of challenges and even heartbreak, information will continue to quickly evolve about our ongoing efforts to vaccinate people against COVID-19. To date that’s included more than 15,000 individuals across our health campuses in Gainesville, Jacksonville and Central Florida. 

While we all look forward to a restful holiday break, the Spring term will be on us before we know it.  In this letter, we discuss the preparations that have been made and what will unfold in the Spring semester.

At 10:39 a.m. this morning, a group of 10 front-line health care workers at UF Health Jacksonville began to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, shortly after a shipment of several thousand doses arrived at our health system. They are the first in Florida, and possibly the Southeast, to do so.

This is a historic year in so many ways, and our conversations reflect that, studded with terms that have grown all too familiar: Unprecedented. Uncertain. New normal.

And now we are on the cusp of a revolutionary development in the progress we’re making on the pandemic, and we can add a few more phrases to the mix: Extraordinary. Hopeful. Humbling.

And perhaps the most important word of all — Here. The COVID-19 vaccine is about to be here.

As a faculty member myself, I understand the concerns some of you have about returning to more in-person classes this spring. I spend a considerable amount of my day meeting face-to-face with people, as do thousands of my colleagues here at UF Health.

As we approach the end of the Fall semester, we are devoting this issue of the newsletter to answering faculty and staff concerns for additional resources and support to help prepare for a successful Spring 2021. 

As we continue to manage the realities of living and working during the COVID-19 pandemic, UF is refining its communications efforts to make sure all members of our campus community remain well informed. As part of that effort, we will be sending you an e-mail communication every other week to provide you — our faculty and staff — with information you may find useful, such as spring academic planning efforts, research innovations, and campus operational changes.

Dear Students,

We have reached the end of October, and though it may be hard to believe, spring semester is right around the corner. Advance registration for the Spring 2021 semester will begin in mid-November.

We are writing to let you know that, given the current environment with the coronavirus pandemic, we are moving our application deadline to Monday, November 16. Previously, our deadline was November 1. We’ve heard from students, parents and high school counselors that additional time to apply will be helpful given all that you are juggling right now during the pandemic.

The University of Florida remains fully and firmly committed to following CDC guidelines for every part of our campus from classrooms to athletic venues as well as the guidance of our own experts at UF Health and local and state health officials.

“On behalf of students who will benefit from increased in-person classes, and on behalf of those whose jobs will be saved through sustained funding of our operations, I offer my deep and heartfelt appreciation,” said President Kent Fuchs in his video statement to faculty and staff.

UF will expand its in-person class offerings during Spring 2021. The schedule of classes will be published Oct. 30.

University of Florida leadership has approved last week’s Faculty Senate vote for UF not to observe Spring Break 2021, which would have been March 6-13, and extend winter break by one week with the spring semester beginning Jan. 11.

The foundational priority of each university is the health and well-being of our university students, faculty and staff.  On March 17 and subsequently on June 4, we directed the state universities to develop an alternate schedule or method of delivery for spring and summer commencement. Based on that direction, some universities moved their traditional commencement dates to later in the year, while others scheduled virtual celebrations. 

UF Health Screen, Test & Protect on Saturday began offering saliva coronavirus testing for UF students, faculty and staff, a method of detecting the virus that is expected to largely replace nasal swabs that are inserted deep into noses.

The purpose of this message is to clarify the attendance/verification of illness/COVID protocols for your face-to-face classes this semester in order to clear up any confusion and, hopefully, decrease any undue stress.

As we collectively navigate the uncharted territory that this pandemic brings, we appreciate your voices, and we are constantly following the data and listening to your experiences to enhance communications and adjust processes.

We are two weeks into the Fall semester and things have been moving quickly since we welcomed students back to campus. Below, please find a quick summary of some of the latest resources available to faculty and staff as well as information you may wish to share with your students.

Our face-covering policy has been revised: Effective immediately, face coverings are now required outdoors on UF and UF Health property unless a physical distance of 6 feet or more is maintained at all times. The full policy is available below. Please also see coronavirus.ufl.edu for more information.

It’s been inspiring to see how the campus community has pulled together amid this most unusual start to the academic year. The beginning of school is typically a fun and exciting time, and this year is no different, despite the unique challenges these historic times bring. We’re reconnecting with each other in creative ways. We’re making new discoveries and learning new things in the classroom. And each day we witness how students, faculty and staff — in ways big and small — are helping each other, demonstrating a true culture of caring and concern.

The increase in positive cases we are seeing on campus this weekend is in keeping with what the University of Florida and UF Health anticipated and planned for, and we have resources in place to address the uptick in numbers, which will likely continue for some time in the wake of the holiday weekend. 

Football in the Swamp is a month away, and in order to prioritize the health and safety of the Gator Nation, game days are going to be different in 2020. The University Athletic Association is announcing the first of several game day safety protocols and strategies, including a reduced fan capacity plan ahead of the Gators’ home opener against South Carolina scheduled for Oct. 3.

We are eagerly preparing for the start of the academic year, and I am incredibly excited about all the experiences and accomplishments we will enjoy together.

As we welcome students back for the fall semester, the University of Florida, Santa Fe College, Alachua County and the City of Gainesville are partnering to keep everyone in our community as safe as possible.

As the start of fall semester approaches, we are kicking off a new public dashboard that offers an ‘at-a-glance’ picture of COVID-19 trends among members of the university community — faculty, staff and students.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Southeastern Conference has established Sept. 26 as the new kickoff for the 2020 football season, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced Thursday. The 2020 SEC football season will be comprised of a 10-game Conference-only schedule.

By now, you’ve likely heard about or seen UF’s Reopening Plan for the fall semester, which lays out how the university will move forward amid the ongoing pandemic. Our Plan Forward is a comprehensive guide for students, faculty, staff and our community on what the fall semester will entail. It is a living and flexible document as our understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic and best practices to address the virus evolve.

The health and safety of our students and our community is paramount. We each have a role to play in limiting the potential spread of this disease. 

With the Fourth of July holiday on the horizon, coupled with the reality of the impact of the virus, now is the time to band together to fight this global pandemic and collectively commit to do our part to promote a culture of care and compassion for one another.

While the university encourages organizers of events and gatherings to continue the pursuit of alternative virtual modes of participation as their primary method of conducting such activities, effective July 1, 2020, indoor and outdoor events and gatherings at all University-owned, -occupied, or -controlled lands and buildings (“University Properties”) located within the state of Florida will be allowed to resume on a gradual, controlled, and phased approach. 

By now, you’ve likely heard about or seen UF’s Reopening Plan for the fall semester, which lays out how the university will move forward amid the ongoing pandemic.

We had planned to release it on July 2, along with the updated Fall Schedule of Classes, but given the current surge in cases statewide and in Alachua County, we are postponing their release to July 10 so that we can better understand the possible trajectory of the pandemic and provide you with more definitive guidance.

At the direction of the State University System due to COVID-19, UF will not hold in-person summer or in-person rescheduled spring graduation ceremonies in July and August as originally planned. The university will provide every spring and summer graduate an opportunity to participate in a future in-person commencement ceremony.

The State University System today directed Florida public universities to plan alternatives to in-person commencement ceremonies due to continued COVID-19 health guidelines limiting gatherings.

The Florida Board of Governors, the State University System’s governing board, has approved a broad SUS blueprint for reopening the state’s public universities this fall. The blueprint stresses as a foundational priority the health and welfare of students, faculty, staff and others while giving individual universities flexibility in their reopening rules, procedures and guidelines. Under the blueprint, universities are developing their own reopening plans.

The University of Florida’s draft plan outlines how UF will strive to create a safer, healthier campus environment and continue its research and education missions using screening and testing, enhanced protective measures, comprehensive communications and other tools.

We welcome input on the UF plan. Please send your comments to reopen@ufl.edu. 

The UF Board of Trustees unanimously approved the plan during its June 5 meeting. The plan will be submitted to the Board of Governors by the June 12 deadline. It is expected the plan will continue to evolve as circumstances with COVID-19 evolve globally and locally.

"I embrace yesterday’s announcement from the Board of Governors that the University of Florida and the rest of the State University System will reopen in the fall. The blueprint and timeline fit perfectly with the work happening at the University of Florida, where the process of returning our employees to the workplace is already underway."

UF has created eleven task forces, each of which is charged with addressing an important aspect of our recovery. Each task force is chaired by UF leadership, and their membership includes medical experts, deans and members of the president’s cabinet.

On March 16, 2020, President Fuchs prohibited non-essential university travel. Travel that was deemed essential needed approval by a Senior Vice President or Vice President. Employees were strongly encouraged to minimize personal travel. This memo modifies that policy as follows.

View an end-of-academic-year video from UF President Kent Fuchs.

University of Florida Health is rolling out plans for a rigorous “test-and-trace” program to support the staged reopening of UF, an expansive data-driven effort that will allow students, faculty and staff to return to campus as safely as possible while minimizing the risk of infection from the novel coronavirus.

As the spring semester nears its end, we would like to express our gratitude for all that you have done and continue to do in support of the University of Florida community.  While it will be some time until our campus returns to a more normal status, we will soon be taking the first steps in that direction, guided by the world-class physicians and epidemiologists at UF Health. 

With only two weeks left in the Spring semester, students and everyone in our university community are eager for information on what’s ahead. Hundreds of talented individuals across the university are working to plan and prepare the campus for a variety of possible scenarios. They are working to both model and control the future.

Due to the unprecedented impact of COVID-19, UF Transportation and Parking Services will provide students, faculty, and staff parking decal refunds for the month of April 2020.

Over the past few weeks, the Graduate School has been reviewing policies to allow appropriate flexibility for Spring 2020. The Graduate School and several colleges will implement policy to provide an S/U (satisfactory/unsatisfactory) grading option to eligible, letter-graded graduate courses, as determined by your college and department, for Spring 2020. 

UF will continue online delivery of coursework during the Summer B term, as has been announced for the Summer A and Summer C  terms. The Summer B term is being shifted to start one week later than had been previously announced in the academic calendar. This shift will also affect some Summer C dates as indicated below. Summer B Classes will begin on July 6 instead of on June 29. Other important dates to note:

We want to take this time to extend our profound gratitude for your tireless work and resilience since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Three weeks ago you were asked to move all instructional activities online. We thank you for successfully and smoothly doing so, while helping students make the transition as they dispersed, many of them under considerable stress.

In response to the continuously changing circumstances involving the spread of COVID-19, the University of Florida is pausing faculty and staff hiring, including OPS jobs, effective immediately and until further notice, with a few exceptions.

The University of Florida and its Dining service provider Aramark plan to offer students partial refunds for those who left campus early this semester due to COVID-19.

In the past two weeks, our entire Gator community has faced unprecedented change in our work, study, and social lives because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The UF Administration and Faculty are grateful for your resilience and flexibility in shifting your lives away from campus as a result of this pandemic. Many of you have shared your experiences with us as you make every effort to transition to a new place and a new way of learning, and we recognize the extreme disruption this shift has brought to your lives. In an attempt to help you continue to progress towards your degree and future career aspirations in a timely manner, the UF Administration and Faculty have approved a change in the current UF S/U Grading and Drop Policies for Spring 2020 courses.

Alachua County mandated emergency "stay at home" orders effective at midnight, Monday, March 23. UF is reducing on-campus personnel to those identified as essential, starting today. If you are unsure about whether this includes you, your manager will be able to provide you with guidance and more details about what this entails. If you have been approved to work from home, please do so. If you have been identified as essential and your job requires you to remain on campus, please practice social distancing, maintaining at least a 6-foot distance between yourself and others whenever possible. The University of Florida is firmly committed to prioritizing our community’s health and safety to the greatest extent possible.

Following the State University System’s announcement that on-campus commencement ceremonies will not be held at Florida public universities in May, UF has rescheduled its Spring commencement for the weekend of July 31-August 2 for students graduating with master’s or bachelor’s degrees. Graduating doctoral students can participate in the summer doctoral ceremony scheduled for August 7. Guests are welcome to attend all ceremonies, and tickets will not be required.

We want you to know that we are offering a full suite of courses for Summer A, B, and C. Summer A/C courses will be provided online so you can continue to make progress even in the current circumstances.

In response to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ announcement today that four University of Florida students have tested positive for COVID-19 and at the governor’s recommendation, all UF classes will remain online for the remainder of the Spring semester. Students who have not gone home yet must do so if possible. We understand that for some students, Gainesville is home. Additionally, employees who can work remotely are strongly encouraged to do so.

In line with Governor DeSantis’ guidance and the directives issued by the state’s Department of Management Services, the university will be implementing the following policies effective immediately:

We realize the announcement of public school closings will impact many of our faculty and staff. While the university continues to be open, an employee who is unable to report for or remain at work due to a family care emergency such as this may use one of the following types of time off to account for time away from work, with supervisory approval:

UF requires all classes to move online

University remains open and fully operational

Students encouraged to return home until March 30

In accordance with guidance issued today by the State University System and in response to the COVID-19 situation, the University of Florida will move classes online by Monday, March 16, and classes will remain online until at least March 30. Additionally, UF is encouraging all students to return to their homes and remain there until March 30. We understand that for some students, returning home may not be feasible. Campus resources including dining halls will remain open for those students.

In response to the evolution of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., Provost Joe Glover sent a memo to academic deans today recommending that instructors move their courses from face-to-face delivery to an electronic delivery mode effective immediately, wherever possible. While this is not a requirement at this time, there is a strong probability that it will become a requirement before the end of the spring semester, and so instructors are encouraged to transition now.

As Spring Break concludes and classes resume next week at the University of Florida, UF officials want you to know what is being done to prepare in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. Effective immediately, no one who has been to China, Japan, South Korea, Italy or Iran within the past 14 days will be permitted on the UF campus. This applies to students, faculty, staff and visitors, with the exception of anyone seeking or receiving medical treatment at UF Health or UF Health Jacksonville. No cases of COVID-19 have been reported on the UF campus or in Alachua County. However, UF is taking numerous precautions to protect the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff.

As cases of COVID-19 continue to spread around the globe, the University of Florida continues to closely monitor the rapidly evolving situation and is prepared to respond appropriately. To date, no cases have been reported at UF or elsewhere in Florida. Sixteen cases of COVID-19 are confirmed in the U.S. While the immediate risk to the general U.S. public is considered low, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise the virus will likely cause a global pandemic and is urging Americans to prepare much as they would for a hurricane. According to the CDC, a pandemic refers to an increase in cases that spreads over several countries or continents, usually impacting a large amount of people.

Travelers from Hubei Province are subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine to ensure they are provided proper medical care and health screenings. Travelers from other parts of mainland China are subject to up to 14 days of self-quarantine with health monitoring to ensure they have not contracted the virus and do not pose a public health risk. As a precaution, any UF student who is subject to the mandatory or self-quarantine as defined above will be required to be quarantined for up to 14 days and must follow the processes below upon returning from China and/or before returning to the UF/UF Health campus.

As the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) continues to evolve, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, and the Department of Homeland Security have updated the travel alerts and instructions for travelers returning to the U.S. from China.

With the World Health Organization having declared a global health emergency due to the spread of the novel coronavirus and the U.S. State Department raising its travel advisory to Level 4 warning people not to travel to China, the University of Florida is continuing to closely monitor the situation in conjunction with local and state health officials. The university announced today that it will not approve university travel to China for employees and will not reimburse for any university travel to China that commences after today. In addition, the UF International Center will no longer approve travel to China for students until further notice.

University of Florida officials are closely monitoring updates related to a novel coronavirus as a second confirmed case has been reported in the U.S. connected to an outbreak in Wuhan, China. The second U.S. case was confirmed today in Chicago. No cases have been reported at UF or elsewhere in Alachua County. The university is coordinating with UF Student Health, UF Health, the Alachua County Health Department, UF Emergency Management and the UF International Center for local planning regarding the novel coronavirus using up-to-date guidance from state and federal health officials.

The university’s announcement this week that face coverings are now optional on UF property and in UF facilities prompted a visual reminder of how far we have come and where we’re headed as we continue our transition to a pre-pandemic campus environment.

As we eagerly prepare for those of you who will return to campus at the start of Summer B on June 28, we write to make you aware of a few upcoming changes regarding the university’s COVID-19 testing and vaccination efforts. The following plans, made in the context of the evolving pandemic and loosening federal guidelines, signify the university’s continued focus on vaccinations as the path back to normalcy as well as our commitment to fully reviving the vibrant on-campus environment that helps define UF.

We are excited to have our students, faculty, and staff all together for the start of Summer B, which kicks off today. This marks the first time since the start of the pandemic that UF will offer a fully normal campus experience. We look forward to the start of the fall semester in late August, when our campus will come even more alive with academic, cultural and athletic opportunities and beloved traditions.