COVID-19 reminder: your continued commitment needed
September 4, 2020 4:29 PM

Dear students, faculty and staff:

We began the fall semester with what we believe are the right tools to come back to campus: a strict regimen of COVID-19 testing using the rapid-result SHIELD test developed by our own scientists and a set of common-sense guidelines to help everyone avoid the most risky situations.

It became clear this week through a rise in COVID-19 cases that some students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have not been adhering to those guidelines.

In response, Chancellor Robert Jones is taking the difficult-but-necessary step of identifying and even removing those who decline to make the sacrifices required to allow all of us to stay on campus this fall.

The chancellor and the leadership team at Urbana-Champaign also have implored students to limit their activities over the next two weeks to only the absolute essentials: twice-weekly SHIELD COVID-19 tests, classes, buying groceries and food, going to work, individual outdoor activity, religious services and seeking medical attention.

These are manageable, short-term sacrifices, steps not unlike those being taken by people around the globe right now as we navigate the pandemic.

These short-range steps have the power to keep us all here. But without them, the partially in-person fall semester that we’ve begun is at risk.

So please, take this seriously.

The world is watching the University of Illinois System right now, wondering if we are capable of managing this virus. We are, with everyone’s commitment and involvement. 

Sincerely,

Tim Killeen
President, University of Illinois System

Barb Wilson
Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Illinois System