On Monday, July 20, 2020, Northeastern’s Senior Vice President for External Affairs, Michael Armini, sent an email to a listserv of approximately 220 university leaders. The university, and the world, were in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the purpose of the email was to provide a select group of faculty and administrators with the latest information about how Northeastern has managing the crisis.

The email was sent at precisely 8:05 am east coast time—even though the university has campuses in several time zones—and referred to simply as “The 8:05.”

While the early messages were largely COVID-centric, over time Armini mused about other happenings at the university. Although the initial audience was contained to a leadership list, soon The 8:05 was being passed on to hundreds of other faculty and staff. A supplemental listserv was developed and eventually more than 750 members of the Northeastern community were eagerly awaiting Armini’s weekly missives.

After the pandemic officially ended on May 11, 2023, The 8:05 continued. Armini wrote about everything from college rankings to varsity athletics. In fall 2024, The 8:05 was converted to a blog format. What follows below are selections from the initial emails. New entries will be added periodically.