November 2, 2020

Dear Members of the Drexel Community,

Whether you voted early by mail or plan to cast your ballot tomorrow, I want to say how proud I am of every member of our community who’s committed to making their voice heard in this historic election. If you haven’t already done so, I hope you have a plan to go to the polls and vote tomorrow, whether here in Philadelphia or in your home community. By all means, please vote.

Then, after exercising our most essential right of citizenship, I know we will embrace our shared responsibility as members of a distinctive campus community built on a diversity of experience, academic interests and political viewpoints. We can assume that tabulating millions of mail-in votes likely will delay a definitive outcome for contests up and down the ballot. While waiting — and after all the votes are tallied — it is vital to our democracy that each of us shows great patience, that we join together as the Drexel community to digest the results, and that we to do so in the spirit of support and caring that is so much a part of this University.  

We know that, in a democracy, one side is always disappointed by an election result. That will be true, undoubtedly, for some members of our broad and diverse campus community. But we need to move ahead in a spirit of unity.

Indeed, as a campus community, we’ve already shown impressive resolve by our level of engagement. Thanks to the advocacy of the Undergraduate Student Government Association — as well as support from the deans and Faculty Senate — the University will close at 2 p.m. tomorrow in an effort to encourage voter turnout. Drexel Votes, a broad-based coalition of student organizations, schools, colleges and administrative offices, chaired by the Office of Government and Community Relations and the Lindy Center for Civic Engagement, has done a stellar job of informing and encouraging every eligible member of our campus community to register and participate in the election process. Tomorrow, many members of the Drexel community will give of their time to work the polls.

Unable to gather as we might like here on campus, I hope you will be able to discuss concerns you may have about the election and the future with classmates, colleagues, family and friends. But I want to assure you that our professional staff in Student Life, Human Resources, Faculty Affairs, as well as our colleagues in the Lindy Center for Civic Engagement, will be there for your support if needed.

I’m confident that, as a nation, we can emerge from this year’s election with the tenets of our democracy strengthened. The record turnout we’re already seeing across the nation tells us that millions of voters share that faith. And I have no doubt that the Drexel community will remain true to our values of inclusivity, open dialogue and civic engagement.

Thank you for all that you do to foster the kind of community we want to thrive at Drexel.

Sincerely,

John Fry
President