President Caboni

Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,

This afternoon, the Bowling Green/Warren County Coronavirus Workgroup addressed the citizens of Warren County with an update on the escalating number of positive COVID-19 cases in our community and the resulting effects on our healthcare system. If you were unable to watch the news conference live, it can be viewed at fb.com/MedCenterHealth.

For the last twelve weeks, our faculty, our staff and our students have adapted remarkably to a new normal, adopted our Healthy on the Hill guidelines and taken personal action to protect themselves and others. For this, we are grateful.

It was with great pride that during the news conference, I was able to share the tremendous success of our campus community to operate alongside this virus. This success isn’t due to any one individual or group. It’s because of each of you. It’s because you engaged, you complied, you cared and you respectfully spoke up when necessary. And it’s because you demonstrated, once again, that the WKU Family knows better than anyone how to look out and care for one another.

As an institution, we have the responsibility to lead in educating the future workforce of our area. But, we also have the important responsibility to lead a multitude of community efforts – whether that be creating jobs, sustaining a safe environment or, in the case of 2020, promoting health and wellbeing during a global pandemic.

Thank you for leading and for setting an incredibly strong example for others in our community to follow. Our hope is that our mandatory Healthy on the Hill guidelines that we all adhere to are the same ones our community members adopt and practice stringently in the days to come. We need everyone, on AND off of our campus, to wear a mask, avoid large gatherings and practice social distancing and good hygiene – every day, in every circumstance. And that’s exactly what the Coronavirus Workgroup pointedly called upon our citizens to do today.

Because of the growing caseload in Warren County, we ask that our campus community redoubles its precautionary efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus. And when we transition to all virtual learning after next Friday, November 20^th, through the end of the semester, as we have planned all along, we ask that every one of our Hilltoppers bring home with them our Healthy on the Hill guidelines and demonstrate those same basic measures at home with their families and friends – just as they have on our campus. We must each be mindful that we contribute to mitigation, not spread.

I’m so proud of the work of our WKU Community this semester, and I hope that you each find safe ways to enjoy your Thanksgiving week off and prepare to finish the semester strong. Go Tops!

Best,

Timothy C. Caboni