To: Wellesley College Students and Their Families
Cc: Wellesley College Faculty and Staff
From: President Paula A. Johnson
Re: Health and Safety Update
Date: October 29, 2020
Earlier this week, I shared with the community some details about our most recent positive case of COVID-19. Since then, the public health situation here in Massachusetts and nationally has continued to worsen:
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In Massachusetts, positive cases have exceeded 1,000 per day since last Saturday, with people under 30 making up a large percentage of new cases.
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Nationally, the surge continues. More than 40 states now have transmission rates that indicate unchecked or escalating community spread.
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Many public health experts are citing informal gatherings where people socialize unmasked as the reason for that surge.
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Testing (even twice per week) when combined with effective contact tracing and isolation and quarantine protocols can minimize spread—but only mask wearing, physical distancing, and regular hand washing can prevent disease.
Wellesley has been able to avoid the experience of institutions that have had to go into lockdown or to send students home, because members of our community have followed the rules and done the hard work necessary to secure our “bubble.” However, the results from our recent contact tracing and from our weekly community survey suggest that an increasing number of students are not following the health and safety guidelines as closely as they once were. The community survey responses indicate that students and staff feel others are now complying less often with travel and off-campus restrictions. Observing physical distance remains an issue, with only 60 percent of those surveyed reporting they feel confident that the rule is being observed consistently. Of equal concern, we have received reports of an increased number of visitors to campus, who are entering the residence and dining halls.
I want to be clear: these behaviors put the health of our community and our ability to complete the term with students on campus at risk. As we begin term 2, we need to redouble our efforts to minimize that risk. Following are some important changes and reminders regarding our protocols.
Students should not travel off-campus beyond the Town of Wellesley. Students are welcome to go to the “Vil” (wearing masks and maintaining physical distance), but they cannot travel beyond Wellesley to other cities and towns in Massachusetts or out of state. We understand that students may need to leave Wellesley for medical appointments or other essential reasons, but travel out of the general area for recreation or socializing must stop immediately.
Students can no longer invite guests to campus—indoors or outside. We need to restrict access to the campus to our immediate community. We will be increasing signage and enforcement of the campus closure to all people not authorized to be on campus.
Thanksgiving week. We understand that some parents and families may be hoping to come to campus to visit with students or to take students off campus with them to homes or restaurants. It is, of course, a sacrifice to spend Thanksgiving apart from family, but in light of the current surge in cases across Massachusetts and across the country, we cannot allow parents to come to campus. As we have shared in all of our fall planning communications, students are expected to stay on campus during the Thanksgiving weekend and for the following two weeks to maximize in-person teaching.
Although no room or board refund would be available, students who are on campus, without campus responsibilities, and studying 100 percent remotely may choose to go home for Thanksgiving and stay there to complete the term off-campus.
Respectfully, we ask families to follow this guidance to the letter and support your student in other ways that week—for example, by reaching out virtually or sending a care package. Please also know that we appreciate and share the desire to make the Thanksgiving holiday a moment of relaxation and warm community. We have planned a number of on-campus activities in that spirit, and look forward to sharing details with you very soon.
Block system. The goal of the block system is to limit the number of students who are dining together and using shared facilities so that in the event of an infection, exposure will be limited to students in the block. This system is the best way to minimize the spread of the virus to the broader student body, but it only works if students follow it, which we ask you to do. Because eating requires masks to be off, students should only be eating with their blockmates.
Strengthening enforcement. We know that the overwhelming majority of students understand the necessity of these rules and make concerted efforts to abide by them. But in instances of noncompliance, we will not hesitate to enforce our COVID-19-related rules. I want to reiterate that students who violate these rules will be asked to leave campus and continue their classes remotely for the remainder of the term. Enforcement will happen through administrative action and will not be subject to appeal.
Given the projected arc of this virus over the colder months, students who are coming to campus during terms 3 and 4 should expect that these rules will continue to be in effect to secure our bubble and ensure that we can offer an in-person academic and residential experience. If there are positive changes in the public health guidance we will revisit our rules, but until then, we ask that families and students do their part to help keep our campus safe and healthy.
I hope to see you and answer your questions at this evening’s webinar, which starts at 7 p.m. EDT. The webinar will be live captioned, and I ask that you please pre-register to receive the login information. For anyone who is not able to attend, the webinar will be recorded and shared on our Keeping Wellesley Healthy website shortly following the event.
