2021.08.13
News

20th Message from our President:Act Responsibly and Stay Safe Over the Summer Break

As the nation continues its struggle to prevent COVID-19 through vaccinations, the Olympics are now over and we look forward to the Paralympics starting on August 24. It is concerning to see that the highly contagious delta variant of COVID currently appears to have the upper hand, with around 15,000 new cases daily. Given the fears that the medical infrastructure may fail, we must remain vigilant until people who want to be vaccinated have been vaccinated.

I admire the fortitude you have shown in pursuing your studies and sitting your exams amid the ever-present need for vigilance against the spread of the COVID-19, and I thank you for your efforts. In pre-COVID times, this newsletter would have found you looking forward to enjoying a summer break, planning trips with friends that would surely have become treasured memories, or developing physical and mental skills at extracurricular club training camps. Unfortunately, with the COVID situation as it is, you must abandon hope of participating in such activities for the time being. It breaks my heart to know that one and a half out of the four irreplaceable years of your student life have been curbed by various restrictions.

From the university’s standpoint, we want nothing more than to welcome students to our campuses, to see you studying and debating with teachers and fellow students in a real, rewarding academic setting, achieving personal growth, and having the time of your life. That is why we tried so hard to restore in-person classes wherever possible. It deeply pains me to ask you again to restrict your activities over the summer break, but that is what we must do if we are to continue to offer in-person classes. I hope you will consider what you can do as a student and a member of society to help overcome the present danger of an explosion of COVID case numbers, and at the same time, to do whatever you can within those limits to further your personal growth.

The university’s vaccination program is scheduled to start on Tuesday, August 24. Following extensive talks with the government and other parties, we have no alternative but hold the vaccinations at a single venue, the Kobe Campus for Commerce. I regret the inconvenience that this may cause for those of you who live far from that campus, but I hope that all of you who want to be vaccinated will take this opportunity.

It is my fervent hope that we see some progress in efforts to prevent COVID-19 and you can enjoy the full student experience in the second semester—on campus, together with fellow students, studying and participating in club activities without restriction.

Isao OHTA
President
University of Hyogo