President Caboni

Dear Colleagues,

One month from today, our students complete their final exams, and the spring semester concludes. We are accustomed to the semester-to-semester ebbs and flows and take delight in the nuances of each transition, including the Cherry blossoms currently blooming on our beautiful campus. When we close this chapter in the university’s history at the end of April, we will have operated successfully for more than a year during a global pandemic.

I have shared with you on various occasions the remarkable work of WKU faculty and staff throughout this challenging time. Your efforts have been nothing short of extraordinary! As we conclude the spring ’21 semester, please continue to support our students and provide encouragement, whether guiding them in their preparations to graduate and start careers or to assist with their transitions to summer activities and plans to return to campus next fall.

This year tested us in many of ways. Despite all of the challenges, our Hilltoppers pulled through remarkably well - indicative of the tremendous support provided by our community. They leaned on one another and complied with guidelines none of us could imagine as part of our college experience. I am proud of their maturity and their sustained efforts to protect themselves and all those on our campus. If you have the chance to thank them for their perseverance during the weeks ahead, please take the opportunity to share WKU’s appreciation for all they have done and for their commitment to the WKU Family.

While we have worked at WKU to lead both on our campuses and in our communities since the beginning of the pandemic, our work is not over. Today, I am pleased to share that WKU, Graves Gilbert Clinic and Wild Health (based out of Lexington) have partnered to make the COVID-19 vaccine available on our campus. Beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, March 31, vaccines will be available for faculty, staff, students, contract employees and their families from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Stansbury Concourse of E.A. Diddle Arena.

To register for an appointment, visit https://communityvaccine.as.me/westernkentuckyuniversity (students should use their local address). Once appointments for Wednesday are filled, appointments will become available for Thursday and Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Instructions for receiving the second dose will be given during the first appointment. If you have any questions, please call the COVID Assistance Line at (270) 745-2019.

We appreciate the collaboration with GGC and Wild Health to make the vaccine easy and convenient to receive. Our hope is that we can vaccinate as many faculty, staff and students as quickly as possible, with an eye toward sending students off at the end of the term fully vaccinated – providing protection for themselves and for all those they will live with or encounter in the upcoming summer months.

Thanks to vaccines and the tireless efforts of the entire WKU community, we are moving closer to a safe return to normalcy, and we continue to plan to return to regular operations across our campuses this fall. I appreciate all you have done to make this possible. 

Go Tops!

Best,

Timothy C. Caboni