I am extremely grateful for the way our community came together to support each other through the challenges of 2020.  Our students, faculty, staff, and alumni embodied the “We Are” spirit.

So many people did extraordinary work to protect health and safety and navigate the many novel issues that arose. As we rapidly transitioned to remote learning in March and then developed hybrid learning for the fall, our response team, faculty, and staff worked collaboratively to support our students and ensure rigorous academic learning. Students played a key role in shaping our response, and our alumni generously donated to assist those financially impacted and helped our students find employment.

I am thankful for the commitment and efforts in both schools to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism. We developed concrete action steps based on active listening with important leadership from students as a key part of the process. Our community collaborated to create four new diversity scholarships and over 500 students, faculty, staff and alumni signed the Statement of Penn State Law and School of International Affairs Community Against Racism.

As the pandemic created challenges around voting, our students, faculty and staff stepped up to help. They collaborated with others around the university to provide voter information and to be responsive to concerns. I appreciate these non-partisan efforts to support this right at the core of our democracy.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery said that “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Despite their own challenges, people in our community brought their hearts and cared for one another. Thank you for all of the visible and invisible ways that you made a difference in 2020.

Warmly,

Hari Osofsky

Dean, Penn State Law and the School of International Affairs