Dear Infrastructure and Sustainability team,
I hope this note finds each of you well as we are now more than a month into 2022. We welcomed students back for in-person instruction last week thanks to the great work that all of you did – and continue to do – to prepare our campus.
There have been many events that have impacted our community over the past two months. On Dec. 30, the Marshall Fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes and forced tens of thousands to evacuate. Within I&S, we had four employees who lost their homes and a dozen folks who had to be evacuated. I want to offer my sincerest condolences to those of you who lost your homes in this unfathomable disaster. If you were impacted by the fire, please look to our fire resources page for support.
The high winds we experienced that day also had on-campus impacts. Thanks to our shops and outdoor services crews for quickly managing the downed trees and broken windows so the campus was safe for all our constituents and for getting our campus ready for our students’ arrival.
On top of the significant events I mentioned above, we also experienced freezing temperatures resulting in frozen pipes and subsequent flooding throughout several buildings. Some staff members, researchers and classrooms were impacted or displaced as a result of this damage, but our crews have been working tirelessly to get people back where they belong. Thank you for your hard work on this. I sent a note to campus leadership and to chairs and directors asking them to remind their folks to close their windows before they go home.
On a more positive note, members of our cycling community have been volunteering to tune up and repair donated bicycles that are going to those impacted by the Marshall Fire. Additionally, we have received great feedback about our prompt snow removal and campus-wide KN95/N95 mask distribution. You are all doing so much to keep our community safe and I can’t thank you enough.
We are here for you if you need support during what continues to be a trying time. I encourage you to take advantage of the Faculty & Staff Assistance Program, a no-cost service that can help you through both personal and work-related issues. As I’ve mentioned in the past, my door is also always open for you.
I am hopeful for the things to come this year and I look forward to seeing our team continue to thrive in 2022!
With gratitude,
David Kang, vice chancellor for infrastructure and sustainability
