March 24, 2020

Hello Host Families (past and present!),

I hope this finds you healthy and finding some peace during this very unusual time.

I am reaching out to host families from the past few years as I know many of you stay connected with your students beyond their first year. As many of you already know, Reed has moved to online courses for the remainder of the semester. Only students and scholars that we approved to do so could remain on campus. Many of our international students and scholars decided to return home or spend the rest of the semester somewhere else in the US. A large number of international students and scholars are still living on campus.

Wherever your student or scholar is, I want to pass along information to you about the resources and support available at this time. This is a link to a comprehensive guide to campus resources and services available to students during and beyond the transition to remote learning.

This is a tough time for all of us in a myriad of ways. This is and will be especially difficult for our international students. Experiencing this pandemic far from home and away from family, abrupt goodbyes to friends, a very different (and quiet) campus environment, transitioning to online learning, and this on top of serious concerns about health, safety, and feelings of anxiety and uncertainty about the future. I think especially of our seniors who have had to say farewell to their classmates and miss out on the celebrations of their final year and accomplishments. And tragically, many of our Asian students are also experiencing xenophobia, racism, and bigotry on top of grappling with all of these other impacts.

It is important - now more than ever - to check in with your students and scholars. The relationships you have built with them are so valuable at this time. I know they would surely appreciate a check-in, a text or a video call, to say hi. Particularly those that are social distancing on campus and not with their families, may be feeling pretty alone and bored and look forward to some human connection, albeit virtually!

If you have questions or concerns about any our students or the resources available, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. We appreciate all you have done and do for our students! It was so nice to hear from many of you expressing concern and offering to help over the last couple of weeks. Thank you, and I am wishing you all health!

Best, Dana

Dana Lawson
Program Director
International Student Services