January 2021

Dear Dr. Black and executive committee members, I am in receipt of your letter dated January 10, 2021 requesting that the university postpone the return of students until the rate of infection has fallen significantly in our community and state. I would like to share with you the measures that we are taking to protect the health and safety of our community. As we prepare to carry out the university’s mission during the COVID-19 pandemic, our Emergency Operations team and campus leadership are working closely with the County and State Health Departments as we make decisions about campus activities. We also are in close contact… Read More »Chancellor Plowman’s Response to Covid Letter

To Chancellor Plowman and the UT Board of Trustees: We are writing to express our dismay that the UT Knoxville administration is bringing a large number of students back to take classes on campus this spring. As you are of course aware, Knox County was recently declared by the CDC to be the very heart of the global outbreak of COVID-19. Indeed, our county has recently experienced days of its highest death rates due to the pandemic. In addition, as recent news reports make clear, the arrival in Knox County of the far more contagious strain of this virus, recently found in Chattanooga, is imminent.… Read More »Letter to Chancellor Plowman and BoT regarding Covid