I know you are as excited as I am to see our campus full of life again — classes and labs, vibrant residence and dining halls, old traditions and new friendships, and an exciting football season just around the corner! I am looking forward to welcoming both our newest and our returning students, faculty, and staff, and to work with you toward another successful year.

Thanks to your work and the collective efforts of our community last year, we were able to keep Georgia Tech moving forward while containing the effects of the Covid-19 virus. It wasn’t easy, but we did it together and ended up having an extraordinary year after all. Covid-19 may have changed the way we do some things, but it also highlighted our strength and resilience.  

Now that same commitment and resolve is how we must move forward. It’s vital that we critically reflect not only on our rights to individual autonomy and free choice, but also on our responsibility to others. It is very important that we all follow current recommendations. 

If you have not done so, I encourage you to get vaccinated now. Doing so at Tech is easy and free. We know the vaccines are effective protection against Covid-19, including the new variants, and the best way to protect yourself and others. If you are unvaccinated, you are at risk of contracting Covid-19 and infecting others, with potentially severe consequences for you or someone else. Please seek medical advice from your healthcare provider or a member of our Stamps Health Services team led by Dr. Ben Holton, if you have doubts or concerns about getting vaccinated.  

Also, when you are in a classroom, lab, or a shared office space, please wear a mask. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the use of face coverings inside public buildings even by fully vaccinated individuals. Wearing a mask is protection for yourself and a sign of care for the health of others. 

Additionally, our free asymptomatic surveillance testing program remains available. Unvaccinated individuals are strongly encouraged to continue weekly testing, but the testing is available to all of us. Find campus testing sites and locations.  

If you have Covid-19 symptoms or are exposed to someone with Covid-19, follow the Covid-19 Decision Tree for getting tested, reporting a positive test, and isolating yourself from others. 

I thank you for joining our collective endeavor to move forward into another successful fall semester and academic term. We can and will do this, together. I look forward to seeing you around campus!  

Jackets Moving Forward.  

—Ángel