A Message to Alumni from Principal Chin

Woodsworth College’s students, staff, and faculty continue to cope with COVID-19 in extraordinary and heartwarming ways. Resilience, flexibility, creativity, and compassion have been the hallmarks of the Woodsworth community ever since the pandemic began. Staff have put in tremendous effort to help students deal with unprecedented levels of academic, financial, and mental health stress. Many students are struggling, but they are also coping and looking out for each other.

Now with Toronto in the grip of a second wave, classes have reverted to online only, and staff have gone from a limited on-campus presence back to remote work. We’re all getting accustomed to this “virtual reality”—Orientation was entirely online, annual lectures have been held as webinars, and the University just celebrated its second virtual Convocation. As a result of all these measures, U of T has been fortunate to count very few COVID cases and only one minor outbreak to date.

Meanwhile, we were delighted to welcome new faculty member Paola Bohórquez (see profile here). The new building project is working its way through governance, and we hope to see shovels in the ground next spring. Stay tuned for updates!

I hope you and yours are all staying safe and healthy, and I look forward to a time when we can all greet each other in person again.