March 11, 2020

Dear Colorado Law students,

The Chancellor’s announcement that the campus will move to a remote learning environment beginning Monday, March 16, did not entirely come as a surprise, but it is nonetheless jarring to our community. This development brings home to each of us the challenges of COVID-19, and the need for caring and compassion with each other in the midst of it all. 

The transition to remote learning and other steps being taken by the campus are precautionary. By suspending the person-to-person contact entailed in the normal classroom environment, the campus is vastly reducing the risks posed by the virus. It is important to understand that the steps now being taken do not amount to closing the campus or cancelling classes. Classes will continue but remotely, the law school building will continue to be open, and student services will still be available (in some cases also remotely). 

Your professors will be in touch with you about how they will be conducting classes and office hours remotely, if they haven’t already. We are preparing for the strong possibility that final exams will have to be conducted remotely as well. We will be in touch with information on how that will happen, if it does, well in advance of exams. Regrettably, this year’s commencement ceremony is also in doubt, and we are preparing for that contingency.

Yesterday I circulated information about events. Now add to that the chancellor’s announcement of the immediate suspension of multi-day university-affiliated gatherings or those with more than 150 attendees. Both university-funded international and domestic (including ground) travel are also suspended. Any exceptions to these limitations will be allowed only on a limited basis, with your health and that of others foremost in mind.  

I know these suspensions of events and travel are disrupting for many in our community, and that they diminish the wealth of enriching activity that our law school ordinarily provides. Similarly, the remote learning environment to which we are moving is not ideal. But these steps come after a great deal of thought and science-based inquiry by the campus leadership, and in a spirit of caring for us all.

Our law school community's strength comes from the caring that flows among us, which I trust will continue to abound.

Your Dean

S. James Anaya
Dean and University Distinguished Professor