Too many said college students could not behave responsibly in a pandemic. You've shown otherwise so far. Your commitment to each other's health and our safety practices, and your leadership in our public health campaign, are making us proud and keeping us together.
Thank you for all you've done so far to make this possible.
But let me be clear: We have to keep it up. If we are to stay together, we can't let our guard down. Not even once.
As students, you may want a traditional, residential college experience, or you may be juggling family and work to come to one of our centers to finish a degree. Either way, nobody wants to wear a mask, stay six feet apart, and avoid large gatherings and parties. But you know well by now that these are the things we simply have to do to stay together and keep our universities, our centers, and each other safe.
We can't stop now if we want to stay together until Thanksgiving break.
We will likely find more COVID cases in our communities at some point again this semester. We have plans to monitor and respond to cases of infection immediately. We are also closely tracking and responding to developments with the pandemic across the state.
Through it all, the success of this semester is still up to you.
Let's keep at it. Let's stay together for Maine.
Sincerely,
