The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has created a truly unprecedented situation that affects us all. Our hearts go out to everyone who has been impacted by the virus, either directly or indirectly, and to all of the first-responders, medical personnel, and other front-line workers who put their lives at risk to protect ours.
Let me begin by restating that the health and safety of all of our grantees, our alumni, and our partners are my most important concern. I very much hope that your situation is such that you can shelter in place and self-isolate, while, at the same time, finding a way to connect with your family, friends, and colleagues at this very difficult time. I realize, at the same time, that personal situations, economic realities, and professional responsibilities may make all of this especially difficult.
Today, we are witnessing what will surely be remembered as a historic deployment of remote work and digital access to services across every domain, including medicine, education, government, entertainment and more. As I see it, in the coming weeks and months, services will be further digitized as the creativity of a massive work-from-home population gets rolling. The importance of international education, and, in particular, the critical role that research plays in a world that is transforming itself before our very eyes, cannot be ignored. Our work, and your contributions, are more important now than they have ever been.
While many of us are naturally focused on continuity and our ability to physically reach out to friends and family, this moment is also about innovating – often in real-time – to support critical services in a highly dynamic environment. Understandably, this puts incredible demands on thought leaders, and educators, and researchers.
Our core goal, in simple terms, is to nurture the human spirit. More specifically, our goal is to support the very best and brightest and allow them to innovate. But, right now, our more immediate goals are to make sure that you can continue your work, and that you are all appropriately supported.
For our 2019/20 grantees, I hope that each of you will feel free to reach out to me or my staff and share your story, let us know how we can help, and share with us what makes the most sense in terms of your own situation.
As you all know, we acted quickly to ensure the safety and security of our grantees, to make sure that they had choices with respect to their current and future circumstances, and that they had our support (moral, practical, and financial) as they struggled with these choices.
For our class of 2021, our newest grantees, please know that we are working tirelessly to ensure that this transformative and life-changing opportunity is fully available to you, while, at the same time, looking out for your health and safety.
Over the past month and a half, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) has been carefully monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak in order to ensure the safety and well-being of our current and future Fulbright grantees. They have recently announced their decision that the 2020-2021 Fulbright Program will be delayed until January 2021.
With some fairly significant exceptions, the Fulbright program will not fully resume until January 2021. Please consult and carefully review the program updates on this page, our FAQ, and other specific guidance by program, and reach out to us should you have any additional questions.
In addition to these practical matters, I want to let you know that we are in the process of rolling out a suite of virtual programs, ranging from new community action grants to online lectures, to podcasts, and small grants for online learning. With the full support of our board of directors, my colleagues and I at the Foundation have been working tirelessly on several new initiatives, and our alumni advisory board has been instrumental in this process. If you have not yet done so, please join our national alumni association. You can reach out to our alumni coordinator Alanna Blackie Demos or our national alumni association president Jonathan Yantzi.
Finally, I would ask that you regularly consult our web site to check on updates for all of these initiatives and all of our ongoing programs. I might also suggest that you consider checking in with the Big White Wall if you require moral or psychological support or just want someone to speak to. Please see https://www.fulbright.ca/about-us/covid-19#mental-health. It is a free site for all college and university students and staff and/or free to persons from specific jurisdictions. Please use your Canadian postal code and your Canadian email to log in.
Moments like this remind us that we are all connected and that we can and should rely on one another. We’re called upon to be our best selves, with patience, understanding, and compassion. Despite the many difficulties that we all face, I would like to reassure you that I personally and all of us at Fulbright Canada remain fully committed to doing everything that we can to support you through this difficult time.
Stay safe and stay in touch.
Michael Hawes, 1999/2000
CEO, Fulbright Canada