Important Update on Level 4 Travel Advisory and Graduation

THIS POST IS A REPUBLISHED VERSION OF AN EMAIL COMMUNICATION SENT BY AUP PRESIDENT CELESTE M. SCHENCK ON MARCH 20, 2020, ABOUT COVID-19 AND AUP'S RESPONSE. IT IS PART OF OUR SAFETY & SECURITY BLOG THAT ROUNDS UP ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND UPDATES FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

Yesterday, the US State Department issued a global health advisory at “Level 4: Do Not Travel.” This means that US citizens are advised to avoid all international travel, and those already abroad should either return to the United States or be prepared to shelter in place for an indefinite period of time. This announcement is a recommendation and not a requirement. That said, this is a moment in which any US residents remaining in Paris, along with their families, should seriously assess whether to return home or stay in Paris for the foreseeable future. I want to reassure you that the University will work to support each and every student in our community, regardless of their geographical location. Remote learning will continue, and student services and other resources will be available to all students no matter their time zone.

The Consul General of the US Embassy in Paris, to whom we turned for advice this morning, recommended that students seeking to return to the United States should make arrangements to leave Paris immediately. We thus recommend that those of you who wish to return to the US contact your airline and confirm your flight, and carry proof of your flight as well as a completed attestation when you leave the house to travel to the airport. You do not need to contact the Embassy, nor will you need any additional permissions to leave. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to studentdevelopmentaup.edu (students) and parentsaup.edu (parents). We will respond to your messages as quickly as we can.

The US travel advisory, combined with confinement situations and border closings in multiple countries where AUP students live, also compels us to announce – with deep regret – that we will have to postpone Commencement 2020, which was scheduled for Monday, May 18, 2020. The restrictions on international travel will no longer make a Parisian graduation possible this May. Please know, AUP seniors and MA graduates, that your commencement means as much to us as it does to you. We will thus return to you with alternate plans when we have more visibility on the future. If we invite you to come online with us to mark the day on May 18, it will only be because we couldn't hold the real one on that day. And we will work to issue official proof of graduation as close to that date as possible, so that nothing stands in the way of our seniors’ future plans. The graduation ceremony itself – at a future date in Paris – ne serait que partie remise, as we say in French, which means “shall not be cancelled, but merely rescheduled for a later date.”

The AUP community continues to display remarkable adaptability and resilience in the face of what feels like daily changing circumstances. We will come together to ensure all students receive the support they need at this challenging time. No AUP community member will be left behind.