To our students:

A year ago, our campus was celebrating after a historic run to basketball’s Final Four. Some of us cheered on the Tigers in person, while others watched from home, with hundreds gathering at Toomer’s Corner when we prevailed at the Sweet 16. It was truly great to be an Auburn Tiger and a great time to be together.

This year is historic, too, but for a much different reason. Since you left for Spring Break, most of you haven’t been able to return, and all of our lives have been turned upside down. You, in particular, have been hit hard, with classes going online, graduation being postponed, events being canceled – the list goes on. Many of you have left your Auburn homes and are now far away from the friends that are part of your Auburn Family.

You all have already made some amazing adjustments. I’ve been heartened to hear about the ways you’ve been coping with the challenges, from communicating with each other through Zoom to staying engaged with your classes to learning to get things accomplished in a new way.

But there’s no two ways about it – all of this is stressful, and it will continue to be until we get some sort of sense of when it will all be over. If we all concentrate on physical distancing and follow the Centers for Disease Control guidelines, hopefully that will come sooner rather than later.

Until then, though, I wanted to let you know of a few resources available to you:

• Health Promotion & Wellness Services is offering wellness coaching via Zoom, giving you a chance to work on goals relating to stress management, time management and other topics.

• A Sound Mind, a campus-wide mental health initiative, has compiled information to help you through this time, including dealing with feelings you may experience and tips for taking care of yourself and others.

• Student Counseling & Psychological Services can provide consultations by phone and, for students still living in Alabama, tele-mental health via Zoom. If you are an Auburn student and need these services or are in crisis, call 334-844-5123 any time of the day or night. SCPS has also compiled a great list of other local and national resources for you.

Please take advantage of these services if you need them. Also remember that any official COVID-19 news related to the university – including an extensive list of FAQs -- can be found at aub.ie/coronavirus.

Finally, if Student Affairs can help you with anything, we’re just an email away, at vpsa@auburn.edu.

All of these resources are available with one goal in mind: We want you to take care of yourselves. Though the timeline is uncertain, we will get through this, and my hunch is that once we return, the bonds of the Auburn Family will be stronger than ever.

War Eagle!

Bobby R. Woodard, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President for Student Affairs