I write today to update you on our preparations for the fall 2020 semester as we work to implement university guidelines for a return to campus in a modified in-person capacity.

The recent demolition of the Paul Rudolph-designed Shoreline Apartments in Buffalo, NY, highlights one of the key tensions of preserving modern architecture: how to balance the needs of occupants with historically significant designs.

A UB partnership with local industry has engineered a DIY fabric mask that is not only a potentially high-performing alternative to industrial solutions like the N95 mask, but is affordable and scalable.

Along with our faculty, students, staff, and alumni, we are enraged by and grieve the recent killing of Mr. George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. In support of racial justice and building on the School’s collective commitment to equity, inclusion, and diversity, we wil execute an explicitly anti-racist approach across all our operations.

Buffalo architect Mike Tunkey (BPS ’00) is mobilizing a diverse network of partners to make more effective DIY masks for at-risk community members during the COVID-19 crisis.