October 18, 2020
Dear Members of the Connecticut College Community,
It was great to see so many people today out on Tempel Green enjoying the excellent Conn student bands. With only four more weeks before Thanksgiving, we have been reflecting on these last two months living with COVID-19, both grateful and proud of the way our community has come together to create a safe campus. Even with a small increase the week of Sept. 28, our prevalence rates have remained exceedingly low, including many days with no positive cases at all. Positivity this past week was just 6 hundredths of 1 per cent. By adhering to our protocols you have maintained the health of our community.
We are pleased to announce, then, that tomorrow (Monday, Oct. 19) we are moving the campus from Alert Level 2-Yellow to Alert Level 1-Green.
We know getting to this point represents a lot of hard work on everyone’s part, and so, to mark the occasion, we want to designate Monday through Wednesday official “Green Days” at Conn. We invite everyone, including our remote students all across the world, to show your support for each other by wearing something green! There will be special treats, too. On Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 19 and 20, Dude’s Donuts Truck will be at the Testing Center between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. with hot apple cider and cider donuts free to the first 800 people coming through. On Wednesday, Meriano’s Cannoli Truck will be at the entrance of the Arboretum between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. with free cannolis to the first 900 members of the Conn community—please bring your ID. We hope our remote faculty and staff, especially, will take the opportunity to reconnect on that day by enjoying a cannoli or a walk in the Arboretum.
What does going Green mean for you in practical terms? First, it doesn’t mean returning to a pre-COVID way of life. We will continue adhering to the Camels Care Pledge and all public health measures we’ve had in place such as covering faces and keeping our distance. And because our surrounding region is still seeing an increase in infection rates, we will continue limiting student engagement off-campus in New London County, as announced last week. The main benefits of going Green on campus are twofold: (1) you students will now be able to visit with friends in residence halls other than your own (note that your ID will not allow you access to all houses as in a typical year, a resident of the building will need to let you into their hall), and (2) our dining halls and coffee shops will now support a small amount of inside seating (on Monday, Dining Services will send students a message highlighting changes).
Staying Green is, of course, contingent on continued low prevalence on campus. If we see the number of cases rise, we will have to shift back to Yellow. Still, we have confidence because, as the last two months have shown, Camels carry on! Let’s carry that great spirit of community you have already shown through Thanksgiving and beyond.
We look forward to seeing you this week enjoying the beautiful fall weather and sporting your green!
Yours,
Katherine Bergeron
President
Victor Arcelus
Dean of Students