Date: November 4, 2020 From: Rick Culliton Subject: Important Campus Updates To the campus community, I hope this finds you well and safe as we enter the final stretch of the fall semester. I write today with several important updates and reminders. First, Freeman Athletic Center is closed and will reopen on Tuesday, November 10. … Read more
From: Rick Culliton Date: October 30, 2020 Subject: Campus Alert Level Update To the campus community, Due to rising COVID-19 cases in the region, the State of Connecticut has raised the COVID-19 alert level for the City of Middletown to ORANGE. Accordingly, Wesleyan’s Pandemic Planning Committee has raised the campus alert level to YELLOW. As … Read more
Date: October 28, 2020 Subject: Public Health Update From: Tom McLarney, MD To Our Wesleyan Community, As we reach the end of October, we are unfortunately seeing an alarming new resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Connecticut; across the U.S. with some states reaching record highs; and around the world, particularly in Europe. This appears to … Read more
To the campus community:
With Election Day around the corner, we write to share information about what to expect on campus on November 3.
Wesleyan’s Beckham Hall in Fayerweather (55 Wyllys Ave.) is the polling site for Middletown’s Voting District 14. Most, though not all, Wesleyan students, along with many residents of the surrounding community, will vote at this site on Election Day, so you can expect to see visitors on campus. Wesleyan will also host an Election Day Registration site in a tent behind Freeman Athletic Center for same-day registration and voting for people who missed the October 27 registration deadline. Both sites will be open during regular polling hours, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Dear Members of the Campus Community,
As we reach the midpoint of the fall semester—a point we’re thankful to arrive at safely together on campus—I write with a promised financial update.
First, let me express our continued appreciation for the extraordinary ongoing contributions of our faculty and staff. We have found so many new ways to deliver the outstanding academic and extracurricular experiences that characterize a Wesleyan education. Despite significant financial pressure due to necessary investments in pandemic preparation and safety measures on campus, as well as lower enrollment revenue, we have managed to contain and, in many cases, curtail expenses.
To Our Wesleyan Community,
Greetings. I hope you’ve been enjoying our beautiful New England fall, and finding ways to take care of your physical and mental well-being as the cold weather approaches.
I’ll begin with a quick update on the numbers: We currently have one active case among students and none among employees. To date, we’ve had four positive cases in students and five in employees.
I’m so proud of how our community has come together to minimize the spread of COVID-19, but as I’ve said before, it is important that we do not let down our guard.
To the Campus Community:
The University has determined that due to ongoing travel, academic, and health and safety factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, all study abroad will be suspended for spring 2021. This includes Wesleyan’s programs in Paris, Bologna, and Madrid, as well as programs run by other institutions or organizations in which Wesleyan students participate.
To the Wesleyan community,
On October 8, 2020, the NESCAC presidents decided unanimously to cancel NESCAC conference competition, including conference championships, for the winter season. The health and safety of students, faculty, staff, and the broader community, remain the foremost concerns for each institution and for the conference as a whole.
Wesleyan remains closed to outside visitors, and so we are not planning any intercollegiate competitions. We will continue to evaluate the public health situation in this regard. Meanwhile, the faculty and staff of the Department of Athletics have done a great job of providing a robust on-campus experience for our student-athletes this fall. We are committed to continuing these programs with the start of winter practices later this week (October 15).
To our Wesleyan community,
We are now into October with very reassuring low rates of COVID-19 positivity on campus. As I write, we currently have 0 active cases amongst students and employees. To date, we’ve had only 8 positive cases total identified through Wesleyan’s testing during the course of the fall semester (two positive student cases reported earlier on our COVID-19 dashboard were later determined to be false positives).
As we celebrate this success, we must also plan ahead as the weather gets colder. Last year, our campus experienced high flu activity. Influenza and COVID-19 can present with very similar symptoms, and could easily overwhelm our campus and the local health system if we’re not careful. Thus, this year, Wesleyan is requiring that all students get flu shots by January 20, 2021 (unless exercising a religious or medical exemption permitted by State of Connecticut law).
Dear friends,
With the first month of the semester under our belts, I would like to pause to acknowledge the careful planning, creative problem-solving and exemplary adherence to safety protocols that have allowed us to be together this fall. This is a proud and happy moment for us all.
At the same time, it is a precarious moment. We understand that the pandemic is still with us and that the public health context can change at any time. We are also nearing the winter months, when more time indoors and flu season could pose additional threats. With these considerations in mind, we have made the following plans.
