Unfortunately, because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided that we cannot hold our meeting in December 2020. We discussed this at length together and chose to err on the side of caution. Many universities are instituting travel limitations and there are international travel bans still in place.
The FRA is an organization that we treasure and we strive to maintain academic excellence and support young scholars. We just felt that there would be no feasible way to offer this type of experience under the current conditions.
If there is a meaningful change and we can simply delay the 2020 program to the spring, we will let you know.
We will plan to resume usual activity at the Encore hotel on Dec 11-12, 2021. They graciously allowed us to delay and we are now under contract with them for next year.
Finally, we have received financial support from multiple sources. It is our plan to apply those toward the 2021 meeting and awards. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
Sincerely,
Bruce, Joey, Eli, and Ed