Thanksgiving weekend is here. Many of us traditionally travel to visit with family and friends to enjoy our favourite holiday foods and reflect on what makes us grateful. While our Thanksgiving experiences will likely be very different this year, I hope you take the opportunity to celebrate what matters to you.

Acadia strongly encourages you to stay inside the Atlantic Bubble and follow public health guidelines so you can experience a Friendsgiving. Celebrating safely in small groups makes sense during a global pandemic, so please review the Friendsgiving guidelines before gathering with others.

When I reflect on this holiday, I am grateful for you, this beautiful campus, and our educational mission. It is easy to think that we have little to be thankful for in 2020. Yet there are many important things for which we can be truly thankful – our families, friends and colleagues who have helped and supported us through these difficult months of the pandemic; our dedicated professors and staff made it possible for us to have a real in-person campus experience. And, of course, the public health leaders and frontline workers who have made it possible for us to live in what is currently the safest place in North America, if not the world.

The resilience and flexibility that we have demonstrated in such a short time have allowed us to create and adapt to new course delivery models, experience changes to almost every aspect of campus life, and embrace new ways to connect and create community.

Ours is a university experience like no other, despite the pandemic's impacts and constraints on us. Thank you for contributing to a safe and vibrant on-campus environment for living, learning, teaching, and working. Our continued success depends upon you, and I am thankful for how you have made this progress possible. Keep it up!

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, let's celebrate responsibly and respectfully, knowing that we risk plunging ourselves back into much more restrictive conditions as we see in some other parts of Canada and abroad if we stray from the public health directives.

As we continue to move through this term, please remember to care for yourself and others. Take breaks, reach out for help, connect with friends, continue healthy habits, share your smile, and express your appreciation to those who have helped you. It's often the smallest thing that can make the biggest difference.

Stay well and enjoy your Thanksgiving break!

Peter
Dr. Peter Ricketts
President and Vice-Chancellor