Julie Ramsey, Dean of Students, informs the campus community about the all-student quarantine starting on September 1, 2020.
Dear Campus Community,
I’m writing today with updated information about the College’s current health status. At the town hall on Sunday, we discussed that we were at an inflection point: we were beginning to see a trend of positive cases on campus that, according to the results we had, were connected to certain affinity groups or social gatherings. As we discussed at the town hall, we determined that to better understand the state of campus—and to confirm that these were, in fact, clustered incidents—we would test the identified affinity groups and certain residences in addition to the surveillance testing we had already planned.
We have begun to receive test results from this week and have more positive cases to report. As of 6 p.m. tonight, of the 348 test results we have received, 25 of those have been positive. Similar to what we were beginning to learn last week, it appears that most—but not all—of these positive cases relate to the previously identified clustered incidents.
Though we expected there to be positive cases in this batch of tests, due to the number of positive test results received so far, the number of test results that have yet to be returned, and the presence of a small number of cases that could be outside the existing clusters, we are increasing our alert level to High. To respond to the current situation, beginning immediately, we are moving to an all-student quarantine effective 10 p.m. tonight through at least the end of the week. More information about the all-student quarantine is below and we will provide more information in the coming days.
The remainder of the semester
This interim all-student quarantine allows us to better understand the path of the virus on campus, informed by the results of the remainder of this week’s tests. Based on the entirety of the information before us, we will assess how we should best proceed as a community.
Details of the all-student quarantine
All buildings will be closed by 10 p.m. tonight and each day that follows through at least the end of the week.
- All classes and labs will be taught remotely.
- Students should remain in their rooms and should only leave to:
- Pick up food from Servo, the Atrium, or the Bullet Hole to take back to your room
- Use the restroom
- Go to your scheduled COVID-19 testing appointment
- [Updated September 3, 2020:] Speak with a counselor
- Students should call the Health Center if they need to make an appointment.
- If students are found to be in non-compliance with the all-student quarantine, they will be required to leave campus and return home.
- Mental health and student well-being during this time is essential. We encourage all students to review our COVID-19 emotional wellness resources.
- No in-person student employment will occur. Virtual work is permitted.
- Employees who are already scheduled to work and provide support resources should continue to report to work.
- Faculty will continue to have access to their offices to assist in their teaching remotely for the remainder of the week.
- Students who live off-campus may only come to campus to pick up meals if they have a meal plan.
- We ask that students remain on campus for the remainder of the week and not return home. However, if you must leave, please complete the following form.
- [Updated September 2, 2020:] If you need to pick up packages in the post office, please email rbennett@gettysburg.edu or npogasic@gettysburg.edu.
The College phone bank will be open from 7 - 9 p.m. tonight. It will also be available from 8:30 a.m. - noon tomorrow. The phone bank can be reached out 717-337-8800. All additional questions can be directed to fallreturn@gettysburg.edu. We ask for your patience in response during this time.
We understand that a residential restriction will not be easy and that the current situation on campus is not what any of us had in mind when we decided to return residentially. The days ahead will be challenging, and we’ve heard from you about the challenges you are experiencing with the restrictions that are already in place. This is a moment when we must join together, support one another, and fully comply with our community health and safety protocols.
Sincerely,
Julie Ramsey
Dean of Students