I'm impressed with your strength and creativity

I'm impressed with your strength and creativity

COVID-19 is shaking us up, making us experience moments of uncertainty like never before. But it also brings out our sense of the values of responsibility, courage and solidarity. 

Today, I want to say thank you. Thank you to all of you, members of our university community, who impress me with your strength and creativity. 

See the video message from Rector Sophie D'Amours

Thank you to you, faculty and staff. You have shown great agility in the past few weeks. Together, you have met the enormous challenge of completing over 95% of the training activities to be offered this winter by distance education. 

Despite the unprecedented context we are experiencing, you understand that it is crucial to offer our students the opportunity to complete their learning in order to enable them to pursue their career, whether in training or on the job market. Because we all need continuity, especially in a storm.

A big thank you to all of you who remain motivated despite this trying situation. The way this university session is ending is far from what I would have wished for you. 

I am aware that we offer you more when you are on campus. Our aspiration is not to have you at a distance, but under the circumstances, we offer you the best of ourselves. 

Knowledge allows us to imagine solutions in times of crisis. It's one of the most powerful collective levers we have. Our objective is to enable you to develop and fulfill yourself. We also know that you are part of the solution to enable Quebec to get through and recover from this crisis. 
To achieve this, we want you to be as nimble as you can be. That is why we have put in place several accommodation measures to respond as best as possible to your particular circumstances. 

I have a very special thought for our 2300 residents. It is with a twinge of heart that we have asked you to leave your room, as welcome and openness flow through our veins. We did this to protect your health and that of the community. 

Approximately 900 of you have no choice but to stay in our residences and we assure you that we will be there for you, while respecting the instructions of the Public Health Department. 

Thank you to our various faculties who have responded enthusiastically to the government's call, making available to the health care system a large quantity of medical equipment and research instruments. I also salute our professors and their research teams who are working hard to better understand COVID-19 and to defeat it.  

Finally, a huge thank you to all the donors who contribute to the COVID-19 Emergency Fund. Your continued generosity means a great deal to me. To the half a million dollars already raised, you have added nearly $155,000 in the last few days. As of April 1, nearly $200,000 has been distributed to students in desperate need of basic necessities. I thank you and invite you to continue your donations. 

COVID-19 has not finished showing us the full extent of its work. More challenges lie ahead and we are determined to meet them. 

While we wish to continue offering distance education and other courses this summer, we look forward to seeing you on campus again because we believe in the value of human contact and experiential learning. However, should another wave of COVID-19 or a different pandemic strike the planet, our university has demonstrated that it is capable of recovering quickly, finding solutions and continuing its mission.  

It is together, in solidarity, that we will succeed.