Announcements

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.

Beginning April 18, Penn will again require all members of and visitors to the Penn community to wear masks while indoors in public or shared spaces, and encourage masking now in all campus buildings

Penn’s 270th class will welcome 2,400 students across four undergraduate schools, and is the most diverse group of students in the University’s history.

We announced last week that masking would be required in classrooms until March 28. We are now extending the requirement of masks in classrooms beyond March 28, following consultations with students and faculty across campus. This is a provisional decision, consistent with guidance at peer universities, that we will continue to reassess in an ongoing consultative process. Our highest priority is to maximally protect the health of our community as we all head into the closing weeks of the semester, final exams, and Commencement.

We are very pleased to welcome back our faculty and students from Spring Break and to look ahead to the second half of the semester. It has now been two years since our community first experienced the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been one of the most challenging periods in Penn’s long history, yet it has also been a time of extraordinary resilience, perseverance, and partnership. Together, we have sustained our historic university missions of teaching and research, while striving to keep each other safe and supported through many unpredictable changes.