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approximately 60 students and were still one of the few programs to dare to open our doors in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The experience of these two semesters has demonstrated our willingness and ability to navigate the challenges of COVID-19 in order to give students the benefits of studying in Rome. It also offered our students an exceptional and transformative study-abroad experience at a time we experienced COVID-19 outbreaks on campus that led to weeks of campus lockdowns. In both fall and spring, too, a series of anti-COVID laws in Italy, Greece and indeed in all of Europe forced us first to cancel some of our most important trips, including the renowned Greece trips, and then terminate our in-person programs a couple weeks in advance of the end of semester. These were unfortunate developments in an otherwise fulfilling academic year. Most fall 2020 and spring 2021 students have told us, in fact, that they wouldn���t have missed it for the world. LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE COVID-19 ACADEMIC YEAR The challenges we suffered last year have nevertheless forced us to pause and take a moment to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of our current approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic as a guide to and platform for future semesters. Basic questions include: What did we do right and what can we do better in the future? Prudence, caution, pragmatism, a concern for the welfare of our students and staff, the golden rule both on campus and in our relations with our Italian neighbors, and a shared sense of purpose have guided our thinking. The safety of our students has remained and will always remain our highest priority. After this priority comes the richness and integrity of our academic, religious life, student life, and educational travel programs, all of which have made UD Rome one of the premier study abroad programs in the world. Three main lessons have emerged from the above process of evaluation and analysis: ��� Student, Staff and Family Safety: The safety of all people on the Rome Campus cannot be guaranteed unless and until all individuals living and working there are safe from the COVID-19 virus. Not only do students live on the Rome Campus, but also fathers, mothers and families with law, lead to criminal prosecution. The best way to drastically reduce the probability of such lockdowns in future is universal vaccination of all adults on campus, staff and students included. potentially dangerous stalemate. ��� Lack of Progress in Italy: Contrary to expectations, Italy continues to see large numbers of new COVID-19 cases each day and no rapid or definitive descent of the curve in sight. Furthermore, the total number of people vaccinated has fallen far behind expectations: only 13% of Italians have received their first vaccinations as compared to 60% (Israel), 32% (USA) and 8% worldwide. Universal vaccination and "herd immunity" will not therefore be achieved in Italy until sometime in 2022. The slow roll-out of vaccines is a clear weakness of Italy���s approach to containing and defeating COVID-19 at this time. ��� New COVID Variants: According to the CDC, the new variants "seem to spread mo