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Earlier today, Brian White, our general counsel and vice chancellor for legal affairs, was named the new vice president and general counsel for Wake Forest University. While this is a loss for KU, I am excited for Brian and have no doubt he will do great work in his new role.

KU strives to foster a culture of research and discovery to address society's grand challenges. With this in mind, I am delighted to invite you to our annual University Research Awards event at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 25.

As final exams conclude and we pause for the holidays, please join me in reflecting on our achievements from the past semester. As always, there is much to celebrate, thanks to you.

We are already recruiting our next class of Jayhawks — and we have a special opportunity this Friday to welcome prospective students and families for our annual Crimson & Blue Day open house event.

I am writing to share good news regarding this year’s enrollment at the University of Kansas. Earlier today, the Kansas Board of Regents released annual enrollment data confirming that KU’s freshman class is the largest in 14 years and the most academically talented and diverse in history.

I am pleased to introduce Karla Leeper, executive vice president for operations at Augusta University/Augusta University Health System in Georgia, as our new vice chancellor for strategic communications and public affairs. She will join us in November.

Earlier today, Emporia State University announced it will be making use of the Kansas Board of Regents’ Workforce Management Policy, which enables universities to dismiss employees to address budget challenges caused by the pandemic. I am writing you today to reiterate that KU will not use this…

As classes begin today, I want to highlight a few topics and initiatives for the semester.

Earlier today in Kansas City, The University of Kansas Cancer Center received some wonderful news: we have achieved designation as a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The University of Kansas has demobilized its Lawrence Campus COVID-19 Unified Command, indicating that while COVID-19 is not gone from our lives, public health experts feel we have reached an endemic stage where the virus can be managed through normal everyday business practices.