Planning for Phase 5 of our COVID-19 response

Dear students, faculty and staff, 

On Friday, the State of Illinois will move to Phase 5 of its Restore Illinois response to COVID-19, the final phase of the re-opening plan, which signals our continued progress toward fully resuming various aspects of life on campus and beyond.

While Northwestern awaits some final pieces of guidance from local health authorities about what the Phase 5 changes mean for our Evanston and Chicago campuses, existing University guidelines on face coverings and testing remain in place—including the masking requirement for all graduation-related events this weekend.

We expect to share more information about these guidelines and vaccines for faculty and staff early next week. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding as Northwestern works to safely and thoughtfully navigate what we all hope are the final stages of this pandemic locally.

Sincerely,

Luke Figora
Vice President for Operations