UNCW Welcomes Seahawks Back to Campus

Bringing bags and rolling suitcases, twin sisters Molly (left) and Jenny (right) Norris walk with their luggage to their residence hall. A man follows carrying bags and bedding.

January 2021

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Message from Chancellor Jose V. Sartarelli

Dear Seahawk Community,

UNCW is off to a strong start in 2021 thanks to efforts by students, faculty and staff to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on our campus and in our community. Earlier this month, we welcomed nearly 3,500 new and returning students to live on campus following a successful re-entry testing process. Our spring course schedule offers a dynamic mix of online, hybrid and in-person educational opportunities.

We finished out the fall semester with both in-person instruction and on-campus living as part of our plans, and we are eager to build on that success this semester with a continued commitment to the 3Ws, as well as surveillance testing and active support of vaccination efforts in our community. UNCW has served as a vaccine center in the past and we are ready to do so again if the opportunity becomes available. The Student Health Center and Environmental Health & Safety are leading our COVID-19 management efforts, with great support from colleagues across campus. Kudos, Seahawks!

There is no question we still have far to go before the pandemic subsides, but we are looking toward the future with optimism. Research activities are going well, and many exciting virtual arts, diversity, and community engagement events and activities are planned. UNCW’s student-athletes and coaches are moving forward with enthusiasm for their sports seasons. Our new film studies building is on schedule for completion this semester, and we have a coastal engineering building, new dining hall and two new residence halls in the works. We have weathered countless storms since our founding in 1947, and with your ongoing support, I have no doubt that we will emerge from this latest challenge as an even better university than before.

Mark your calendars now for Homecoming 2021 , beginning Feb. 8. With a week of live and on-demand virtual programming scheduled, we can’t wait to bring our students, alumni and the campus community together to celebrate what makes UNCW like no other.

Go Seahawks!

Jose V. Sartarelli

Chancellor

Top photo: Molly Norris (left) and twin sister Jenny Norris bring their belongings into the Graham-Hewlett residence hall complex during Move-In for spring semester 2021.

SPOTLIGHT

Donald Furst (standing) holds a print while four students look on or work on their own prints.

Although many UNCW classes are meeting remotely this semester, others offer face-to-face instruction or a hybrid of the two. Here, Art and Art History Professor Donald Furst instructs a printmaking class in the Cultural Arts Building.

Katrin Wesner-Harts (right) puts a writsband on a student checking in for spring 2021.

Track & Field student-athlete Kenneth King receives a wristband from Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Katrin Wesner-Harts. The wristband indicates a negative Covid-19 test prior to campus arrival for spring semester 2021.

Slide with photo of Michael Dyson; Text (on background with Martin Luther King Jr.'s image in the background): Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr./ Michael Eric Dyson

Distinguished writer and renowned orator Michael Eric Dyson was the keynote speaker for UNCW's virtual 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. celebration Jan. 26. The event was presented by the N.C. Cultural Center Consortium, which consists of Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, the University of North Carolina Wilmington and Western Carolina University.

Students from multiple countries, wearing masks and seated to support social distancing, attend orientation for a program to help them improve their English language skills.

Students from around the world are studying English as a Second Language at UNCW through the Office of International Programs. These students, photographed during orientation for the program, are from Argentina, Chile and South Korea.

"We Fly, Together": The website for the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion features a new look and a historically grounded and forward-focused message from Interim Chief Diversity Officer Donyell Roseboro.