On Friday, Nov. 20, Furman University President Elizabeth Davis shared the following message with the campus community, expressing her gratitude to students, faculty and staff for adding to Furman’s resilience during the pandemic. 

Dear Campus Community,

On Monday, my husband Charles and I picked up lunch at DeSantis Pavilion. It was a beautiful day, unseasonably warm and sunny. The food was delicious, but it was most enjoyable because we got to see some familiar faces and experience a touch of normalcy. As we wrap up the semester and enter the holiday season, I want to share just how grateful I am for everything you have done to bring some normalcy to this most abnormal year.

As a community, you have shown great care for each other, making sacrifices that have been challenging, tiring, and quite often frustrating. But you haven’t wavered in your commitment to the health, safety and wellbeing of fellow students, faculty and staff, or to our academic purpose. Your resilience through it all is admirable, to say the least.

Students, thank you for all you did to help us get through and complete the semester on campus. Whether you are new to Furman or you have been with us for several years, you have demonstrated a sense of caring and community that will serve you the rest of your lives. Never more so, perhaps, than after the passing of senior Ava DeVine. Losing a friend and classmate is one of the hardest experiences you may ever have.