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COVID-19 Update: Masks at ÐÔÅ«µ÷½Ì and a Precommencement Announcement

May 14, 2021

Dear faculty, staff, students and parents of ÐÔÅ«µ÷½Ì,

Getting vaccinated is the ultimate and essential COVID-19-prevention safeguard.

That fact is supported by yesterday’s announcement by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Today, the St. Louis City Department of Health granted fully-vaccinated persons the option to not wear face masks or have to maintain social distancing. This is welcomed news on our path back to normalcy.

What this means for ÐÔÅ«µ÷½Ì

All of us are eager to take off our face masks, greet one another with handshakes, high-fives and hugs, and gather together comfortably indoors.

I am pleased to announce that beginning May 19, we will end our face mask and social distancing requirements for those faculty, staff and students who are fully vaccinated. Being fully vaccinated means two weeks have passed since your second shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or two weeks after your Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

These are a few of the questions this change might raise:

The next step is to register your guests for pre-commencement.

Students who have registered for an in-person pre-commencement ceremony will receive an email from events@slu.edu tonight inviting them to register their guests.

If you previously registered your two guests through your school/college, please do so again, even if your guest list hasn’t changed.

The follow-up email will contain additional information you need to know about commencement, including when guest registration is due.

Finally, I remind you that any supplemental on-campus and off-campus pre-commencement or commencement events by all schools and colleges require approval of the .

Fran and I look forward to seeing you as we walk across our beautiful campus in the coming days. I thank each of you for everything you did to contribute to our incredible success this past year.

It was not easy. But each of us should be proud of what we were able to achieve under the unparalleled restrictions and pressures we have faced — together.

May God bless you and ÐÔÅ«µ÷½Ì.

Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D.
President