Message to Students from Provost Peggy Agouris
William & Mary Provost Peggy Agouris sent the following update message to students April 1, 2021 - Ed.
Earlier today during my regular open office hours, colleagues and I met with a number of students who had strong concerns about their experiences at William & Mary and the challenges and academic stress related to the past year. During that conversation, I sought to explain the reasons why the deans and faculty feel that adding more pass/fail options is not the best way to support students’ needs this spring. One student suggested that we’ve prioritized the reputation of the university over the mental health of students, to which I strongly disagreed. It is disheartening that my disagreement has since been misrepresented.
Let me set the record straight. The idea that I, or my colleagues, would in any way make light of the enormity of mental health needs is emphatically wrong and antithetical to who I am.
Mental health and self-harm is a real concern, one that I take enormously seriously. Without question, the past year has had a tremendous impact on our collective mental health, especially for our students.
I care deeply about our community and your well-being. I am devoted to doing everything I can as chief academic officer to ensure that our students are able to pursue their studies at W&M and receive the support and care they need. That was my entire focus during today’s meeting and will continue to be my focus every day. And as always, my door is open to all of you.
Sincerely,
Peggy AgourisProvost