Jeffrey D. Foster, Interim Vice President for College Life and Dean of Students, informs students about the process for exiting arrival quarantine and the first in-person weekend of the semester.
Dear Students of the Residential Cohort,
I want to thank you for your cooperation as we press forward amid this challenging Arrival Quarantine period. We know it isn’t easy and we are appreciative of the commitment you’ve demonstrated to keep this community healthy and to get our semester off to a promising start.
Students who arrived on campus last weekend for testing and move in have seen the results of their first COVID-19 test. As a reminder, you must remain in Arrival Quarantine until you receive your second negative test result. Our second round of Arrival Testing began on Wednesday and will conclude today.
- You should have received an email from Mobile Health earlier this week to schedule your appointment for testing this week.
- Please complete the pre-testing registration and take your QR code to testing in Plank Gym on the day/time of your scheduled test.
- If your first test was during Arrival Weekend (Jan. 29-31) and you have not scheduled your second test, it is important for you report as soon as you can to the testing site in Plank Gym. You may also contact Residence Life at residencelife@gettysburg.edu if you have any questions.
- The testing site is open until 5 p.m. today (Friday) and is not open again for student testing until next Tuesday.
- If you do not report to the Testing Center by 5 p.m. today, your second test result and exit from Arrival Quarantine will be delayed.
- If you are a student who was tested for the first time this week (Feb. 3-5), you will receive an email in the coming days from Mobile Health to schedule your second test for either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
- Please remain in Arrival Quarantine until you receive your second negative test result.
Exiting Arrival Quarantine in the Coming Days
When you complete your second test, you will receive a wristband. The color of your wristband is associated with your test day/results day. Some students have received their second negative test result and have completed Arrival Quarantine. Once you receive your second negative test result, you may exit Arrival Quarantine but please continue to visibly wear your bracelet so College staff can easily identify that you have been permitted to exit Arrival Quarantine.
For example, those who tested Wednesday received an orange wristband. Upon receiving their second negative test result yesterday, these students were permitted to exit quarantine as long as they are visibly wearing their orange wristband. This interim measure to require wristbands, again, is for the safety of the entire campus community.
Students out of Arrival Quarantine have permission to:
- Gather in small groups in common spaces and gather only with others who are also out of Arrival Quarantine. You must continue to adhere to posted room capacities and observe masking and distancing at all times.
- Be outside in small groups with other students (no more than 8) who are also out of Arrival Quarantine while masked and distanced.
- Go to the Jaeger Center gym beginning Monday, February 8.
- Participate in campus programs and offerings – please check the schedule on engageGettysburg.
- Continue to pick up food: Dining will remain Grab & Go at all locations including Servo, The Atrium, and Bullet Hole. Please look for new items and specials at both The Atrium and Bullet Hole. Check the Dining Services website for hours of operation and specials.
- Resume your in-person work on campus.
- Be outside after 8 p.m. if visibly wearing the designated bracelet provided. Masking and distancing rules also apply. Students in Arrival Quarantine until the second negative test result is received may continue to leave their rooms between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. to get food, books, mail, exercise alone outside, and do laundry.
- Move about the Gettysburg area, within the five-mile restrictions, for food and other purposes.
- Travel off campus outside the Gettysburg area if prior approval has been received from the travel committee—recognizing travel outside of Gettysburg is limited to a few exceptions and must be approved.
- Guests and Gatherings
- Masking and distancing rules apply when students host guests/gather.
- Students who have completed Arrival Quarantine may gather only with others students who have completed Arrival Quarantine. Apartment/suitemates assigned to an apartment may continue to gather with those assigned to the space. Guests are not permitted in any apartment or suite until all residents of the apartment/suite complete Arrival Quarantine (receive second negative test). We expect this issue to resolve soon as more students exit Arrival Quarantine.
- Common Spaces in Residence Halls, College Houses, CUB, and similar campus spaces: Students may get together in small, masked/distanced groups of no more than 8 students.
- Apartments and Suites: Students may host guests in the common/shared living spaces (i.e. living rooms, kitchens). No more than 8 students total may be present in the entire apartment or suite. Students are, temporarily, not permitted to host students in their single rooms in the apartment (see next point).
- Single Room Visits Still Not Permitted: All students—even once out of Arrival Quarantine—are not permitted to visit one another in their single rooms. As emphasized in my earlier email, we know this is difficult. Still, it is an important, precautionary step the College is taking to ensure your Arrival Quarantine efforts are sustained during this early and pivotal time at the beginning of the semester. Let me reiterate that this measure is not expected to be in effect for an extended period—it is temporary. We will notify the campus community once it has been lifted.
First In-Person Weekend
Based upon the rolling schedule of our second round of COVID test results, we anticipate all students who receive a second negative will exit Arrival Quarantine at some point before or during the weekend. By and large, this will be the College’s first in-person weekend of the semester.
We all acknowledge how consequential weekend compliance is to our success as a residential community this spring. If we want to remain together on campus, it means that we need to follow the COVID protocols in place and the rules outlined in the behavior rubric. There undoubtedly will be a strong desire to treat this semester like a traditional one. It is not. We are in a global pandemic and we need to look out for one another.
Let’s choose to do the right thing and pursue safe alternatives to in-person gatherings. Please look out for your friends and encourage them to do the right thing as well.
Jeffrey D. Foster, D.Ed.
Interim Vice President for College Life and Dean of Students
Gettysburg College