It is my privilege to continue to serve as Interim Chair of Council.
I am dedicating this message to honouring the extraordinary individual and collective efforts of the LSE community during this unprecedented Covid-19 crisis.
Please be assured that Council are up to date on all our regular business, and well-prepared for our responsibilities related to challenges from Covid-19. Most importantly, we are focused on the health and well-being of our current and future students, as well as our professional services and academic staff. We are also working with the School Management Committee to assess the medium- and longer-term considerations.
But, today, my thanks goes to each and every one of you. Our success in navigating this challenge is due to so many of your efforts, patience and positive spirit notwithstanding the many challenges.
I would like to reflect on, and give special thanks to, the teams across our School who have come together in partnership to focus on continuing to educate for impact, research for the world and develop LSE for Everyone.
We are all immensely grateful to colleagues who have juggled curricular and exam challenges with a view to fairness, practicality, and creativity. The fact that we have so effectively adapted and applied the many necessary changes is a true reflection of everyone’s hard work and collaboration. Council is thankful to all involved and for the open, consultative approach to ensure the best for students and staff.
Council also recognises the important role colleagues are playing in sustaining LSE research and supporting PhD students. At the same time, staff are also developing new research on Covid-19, leading LSE’s unique efforts to contribute to policy and shape sound discussion and debate in the UK and beyond. There is no more fitting home for the social science response to Covid-19 than LSE, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact of this work in the future.
I would also like to acknowledge the tremendous amount of work undertaken to support our School community in so many ways during this time. LSE’s Emergency Planning team have been leading an exceptional, comprehensive and solution-orientated response, with teams across all areas coming together and never losing sight of the impact of decisions on students, individual members of staff, or the need to engage externally. Thank you to all for going above and beyond to keep our community safe, well, supported and informed.
Finally, we are so fortunate to have our Director, Minouche Shafik, leading and supporting the entire School community, orchestrating priorities, and assuring continuity of our critical business internally and externally, with calm and compassion. I would also like to thank my colleagues on Council for their extra efforts during these past weeks.
I have every confidence that we will weather this challenge by working together. LSE is resilient, committed, and uniquely positioned to offer solutions to many of the most critical problems society will face as we look forward to recovery from Covid-19.
Once again, on behalf of my colleagues on Council, my sincerest thanks to each and every one of you for your inspiring individual and collective efforts. You all should be immensely proud of the School’s response and commitment to community.
Council look forward to supporting the School through next stages. You will receive a more detailed update from me on formal Council business late June, following our upcoming meetings. In the meantime, and by far most importantly, please take very good care.
My very best wishes to all of you for a safe, healthy and restful break,
Susan
Susan Liautaud
Interim Chair of Council