A Note from APLU President Peter McPherson

I know you all are working diligently to ensure your campus community and loved ones are safe and healthy. Public universities must deal with extraordinary circumstances and a very uncertain future. They are facing the greatest threat they’ve encountered since the creation of the modern university. On a human level, the pandemic is having a profound impact on everyone individually. Yet even amid the tumult, our member institutions are striving to meet the enormous needs of their students and communities. Public universities represent the best of our society.

They’re mobilizing to address shortages of personal protective equipment. Many of their healthcare workers are on the front lines of fighting the pandemic. And their researchers are leading the way in the global effort to develop cures and vaccines for the virus. All the while, they’ve worked to transition their education, research, and community engagements online practically overnight.

We’re in awe of the commitment of universities and their administrators, faculty, and staff. APLU is here to serve you as you serve others. We continue to press lawmakers for support of institutions as they face the extraordinary financial fallout from coronavirus. We have developed COVID-19 advocacy resources and detailed analysis of federal actions around the coronavirus. We’re highlighting the pioneering research institutions are undertaking. We’re sharing how institutions have transitioned teaching and learning online. And we’re elevating examples of how institutions are communicating with their campuses.

To protect the health and safety of APLU staff, our physical office will remain closed at least through the end of the month and probably longer. But our operations are uninterrupted our commitment to serving our members is strong. If there are ways APLU can better serve you, please let us know. Be well and stay safe.