Have a Restful and Safe Spring Break

As spring break approaches next week for many of our programs, we wish our students and faculty members a restful and much-deserved hiatus from classes.

We are so proud of your resilience and incredibly hard work this year, amid truly challenging circumstances — at school, at home, and in our world.

We encourage you to use this time to relax and rejuvenate as we head into the home stretch of the semester.

We also urge you to make safe and thoughtful decisions about how you spend this time.

While we are incredibly hopeful about the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, it is still critical that we continue taking precautions to limit the spread of the virus and its variants until more of our community is protected.

Remember that you are required to continue following university protocols during Spring Break — even if you are fully vaccinated. This week, the CDC updated its recommendations for fully vaccinated people: Continue to avoid medium or large gatherings, and continue wearing masks in public. While the vaccines significantly reduce the risk of developing COVID-19 symptoms, scientists are still studying how likely vaccinated people are to carry the virus to others.

The CDC and the university also continue to discourage travel. If you do choose to leave the area for spring break, please use caution and follow all travel and testing procedures specific to your campus or program. 

Campus dining will remain open during spring break this year, and Pacific has planned several recreational activities during the break to encourage students to stay on campus but still relax.

You have all done an amazing job this year in keeping each other healthy and safe. We are extremely proud of your efforts — and of all the volunteer work that Pacific employees and students have done to help deliver vaccines to our community and our neighbors.

Hope is very much on the horizon. Thank you for continuing to make responsible choices and help bring it closer.