Coronavirus 2020

Pride in STEM Conference – 11/18

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This is a repost of an email sent by VP for Equity and Inclusion, Dr. Alison Williams on Nov. 6th.

Pride in STEM Virtual Conference

“Join Pride in STEM to celebrate the third annual LGBTQ+ STEM Day at the LGBTQ+ STEM Day Virtual Conference on 18th November, 2020!

To commemorate American Astronomer and gay activist Frank Kameny’s US Supreme Court fight against workplace discrimination, the conference is about what motivates and challenges us – in our professional lives, in our personal lives, in our practice as researchers, in our lived experiences as members of plural, intersecting, communities, in our pasts and in our futures.”

Learn more at

https://prideinstem.org/lgbtstemday/lgbtq-stem-day-virtual-conference/

 

Planning Gatherings & Room Reservations

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This is a reposted message from SALD sent on November 6th.

Greetings students,

As a follow up to the email from Dean Culliton, there are a limited number of indoor spaces that can be reserved for groups of ten or less, and in addition, as of next week, the academic tents.  Reservations must be made at least 72 hours (3 days) in advance via Room Request, which can be found on your WesPortal.  If you are unfamiliar on how to reserve spaces, information and a video tutorial can be found on the Student Activities and Leadership Development (SALD) website.  Events may not be open invitations, nor advertised on social media. In person events may occur on Foss Hill by completing the Foss Hill Events Form in WesNest.

Note that all spaces will be used as is, and additional furniture or services cannot be added.  Please also keep in mind that the amended student event policy and Covid Guidelines / Agreement still apply.

Lounges in residence halls and program houses are not available for reservation, as it is the only place within their residence that students may interact with more than one person.  Woodframe residents will received additional information regarding use of their backyards, which is also limited to ten individuals.  

Please contact SALD@wesleyan.edu with questions regarding room reservations and student event planning. 

Thanks!

Student Activities and Leadership Development

Important Campus Updates – 11/4

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This is a repost of the message sent by Dean Culliton to the campus community on November 4th.

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. We have made this decision out of an abundance of caution due to a few recent COVID-19 cases on campus tied to Athletics.

With winter weather approaching, the COVID testing site will relocate indoors to Beckham Hall in Fayerweather with fewer registration stations, beginning Monday, November 9. The weekday testing schedule remains the same: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Tuesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with an additional hour from 7­ to 8 a.m. for Physical Plant, Public Safety, SMG, and Bon Appetit employees. We are asking everyone to please book testing appointments online in advance to avoid unnecessary crowding inside Beckham Hall.  Additional testing information is below:

  • Twice weekly testing will continue on weekdays through Tuesday, November 24 for students, faculty, and staff working on campus.
  • Testing will be closed from November 25–30 for the Thanksgiving holiday.
  • For the months of December and January, we will move to once weekly testing—Wednesdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.—for all students remaining on campus and for staff and faculty who continue to work on campus.

I remind you to please stay home if you are experiencing any symptoms of illness or believe you may have been exposed to COVID. If this occurs, employees should contact their personal healthcare providers or get tested at a local drugstore or urgent care center. Do not come to the Wesleyan test tent to be tested if you are ill, believe you have been exposed, or are experiencing any COVID-like symptoms. Students who are experiencing symptoms or believe they may have been exposed should contact the Health Services team at 860-685-2470.

Please continue to follow COVID safety protocols at all times. Infections in Connecticut are rising and Governor Lamont this week announced that the state is rolling back to “phase 2.1,” reinstating many restrictions on both indoor and outdoor gatherings. We continue to follow state and federal guidance closely and will communicate with you as the situation evolves.

Sincerely,

Dean Rick Culliton

Dean of Students

Chair, Pandemic Planning Committee

Protestant Chaplain Drop-in Hours & Thanksgiving Service

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Protestant Chaplain Drop-In Hours

Via Zoom:
Monday 6:00-8:00 pm
Tuesday 8:15-9:00 pm
Wednesday 4:00-6:00 pm

Click HERE to schedule a time

In-person (on campus):
Tuesday 11:30-1:00 pm
2:00-5:30 pm
Wednesday 8:30-10:30 am

Email Jami Carlacio if you’d like to Zoom or talk via phone: jcarlacio@wesleyan.edu.

Thanksgiving Service at Memorial Chapel Graphic

Thanksgiving Service in Memorial Chapel

November 14th @ 4pm, EST in person and via-Zoom

Planned and led by Wes students . . .A mix of poetry, giving thanks, music, and Scripture that speaks to human connection and solidarity.

Click HERE to reserve a space in the Chapel
Click HERE for the unique Zoom link (no reservation needed)
Contact Lourdes Fitzgerald, class of ’23 for questions and to participate as a reader, singer, instrument-player, usher, program designer

Deadline to Submit Petition to Remain on Campus Until End of Semester/Fall Break- 10/23

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Greetings!

This is a quick reminder that you may still petition to remain in campus housing through the end of the Fall 2020 semester and/or through the duration of winter break. You may access the petition form here; the deadline for submissions is Friday, October 23rd at 5pm, EST.

Some of you have also asked about returning to campus early from winter break. A separate petition will be available for early return requests before the end of the semester.

All my best,

Dean Leathers

Covid Update – 10/9

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This is a repost of the message sent by Dean Culliton on October 9th.

Dear students,

While we are all relieved by the success we have seen keeping our campus safe this semester, it is important that we not let our guard down.  Other campuses that had low Covid rates have experienced sudden spikes of infection.  While the tendency may be to feel more comfortable on campus as we have tested so frequently and seen so few cases, I want to remind you that our safe environment has been created by your careful adherence to widespread physical distancing and wearing of face coverings as well our testing protocol.

Daily we are monitoring whether students are keeping pace with our expected twice-a-week testing regimen and a small number of you have received warnings for not testing two times each week.  We have not required any students who have missed a test to leave campus yet but we have notified a group of students that another missed test will send them home. While our level of testing is a significant investment in the safety of everyone on campus, it requires a relatively small but important commitment on your part.

We have also had some incidents, mostly at night and on the weekends, where students have been observed violating the Covid agreement by not maintaining physical distance or not wearing masks.  The Community Standards Board has adjudicated these incidents and in a couple of cases sent students home to finish the semester remotely, while others have typically been issued sanctions including probation or deferred suspension with 5-8 points.  The stakes are high when people don’t adhere to the agreement which is why the resulting sanctions are so significant.  As the weather gets colder and people move inside please help us keep each other safe.  Whenever you are not in your residence hall room or private residence, wear your face covering and always maintain six feet of separation.  If you are outside gathering with others, maintain six feet of separation and when not eating or drinking, wear your face covering.  We know this is hard and may seem unnatural at times but it is critical.

I have heard from a number of students who are immunocompromised or have family members who are at risk and they are very concerned about the prospect of Wesleyan experiencing a spike in cases that could endanger them and/or require us to cut short the in-person learning for this semester.  The staff and faculty who are on campus are also relying on everyone to do our part. While our campus has been and is safe, we are not a bubble.  You are permitted to leave campus (to Middletown and the immediate surrounding area) and return. As we keep our eye on state and local positivity rates, we are comfortable continuing to allow that movement IF we can adhere to the important steps of wearing face coverings and maintaining safe distance.

Thank you for your continued cooperation and please reach out to your ResLife student staff member or contact me if you have any questions.

Best,

Dean Rick

Rick Culliton

Dean of Students

Wesleyan Town Hall: Coping in Crisis: A Discussion about Race, Faith, and Mental Health – 10/12

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When: October 12, 2020,Indigenous People’s Day 
 
Town Hall Description:Racial injustice and COVID-19 are exacerbating the mental health crisis in communities of color and on college campuses. This Town Hall webinar brings 4 prominent and outspoken leaders to the Wesleyan community to talk about their life journeys and explore issues about mental health, faith, culture, and brain science, with Wesleyan students, staff, and faculty. We will set this discussion amidst the background of systemic racism, the global pandemic, police brutality, social justice marches, uncertain job market, and struggling economy. 
 
Town Hall Panelists: Former NBA star, Olympic Gold medalist, and non-profit founder Allan Houston, Yale Professor of Psychiatry Nii Addy, Pastor Marichal Monts, leader of the Ebony Singers, and Angie Makomenaw, Mental Health Education and Prevention Coordinator at Wesleyan University. 
 
Moderator: Demetrius Colvin, Director of the Student Resource Center at Wesleyan University.
 
Audience Discussion Leader: Dr. Smith Kidkarndee from CAPS at Wesleyan.
 

Post-Town Hall Breakout Rooms at 7:00 PM:

From 7:00-7:30, we invite the audience to continue discussions and interactions with the panel speakers and moderator in breakout rooms

Room 1: Professor Nii Addy

Room 2: Dr. Angie Makomenaw

Room 3: Rabbi David Teva – Meditation Session*

Room 4: Demetrius Colvin

*The Meditation Session, entitled “From Theory to Practice: Cultivating Wholeness and Well-Being Through Contemplative Mindfulness”, will be led by Rabbi David Teva, with Tyla Taylor ’21 and Jada Reid ’22. Tyla is the Mindfulness Intern on campus; she leads the group Mindful Wes, a student group working to bring conscious awareness to ourselves, our community, and our environment by offering spaces to learn and practice meditation. She also helped start the SOC Healing Space on campus. Jada is a Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality intern at the Resource Center. She founded and leads the SOC Healing Space, which focuses on creating a community for students of color to explore journaling and meditation practices.

Thank you in advance for your interest and participation.

Salud,

Fitzroy ‘Pablo’ Wickham

Head Resident Foss Hill

Senior Class President

Wesleyan c/o ’21

Town Hall Coping in a Crisis

Correction: Important Fall and Spring Calendar Updates

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This reposted message is a correction to the email sent by President Roth on October 5th.

In Monday’s message regarding fall and spring calendar updates, spring break was mistakenly noted as March 24-25. The actual dates of the two-day break, as listed on the University’s academic calendar, are Tuesday-Wednesday, March 23-24. The Office of Communications regrets the error. The below text is revised to indicate the corrected dates.

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:

  • Thanksgiving recess begins Wednesday, Nov. 25 and extends through Monday, Nov. 30. Classes resume remotely on Tuesday, Dec. 1, with all classes and exams conducted online for the remainder of the semester. Students with special considerations (such as international students for whom travel is not advisable or students who depend on Wesleyan for housing) may petition to remain on campus over winter break. All other students must depart no later than Wednesday, Nov. 25 at noon.
  • Students may return to campus for the spring semester beginning Friday, Feb. 5, and classes will begin online on Tuesday, Feb. 9. Students whose theses or capstone projects require them to be on campus will be able to petition to return prior to Feb. 5 on a case-by-case basis. That petition will be distributed at a later date, and consideration will be given to any petitions by those who feel their work cannot be done remotely.
  • We continue to review the risk profile for athletics and for spring study abroad programs. We will be providing updates in the coming weeks.

We expect our February return will entail similar safety precautions to those that have proved effective so far this fall: students limiting exposure and getting tested prior to traveling back to Middletown; an initial two-week quarantine period on campus (Feb. 5-20); frequent testing and procedures for supportive isolation and contact tracing; and a no-travel, two-day spring break (March 23-24), which will negate the need for a post-break quarantine period. When we return next semester, we must maintain our vigilance with respect to social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing. If all goes well, we expect the semester to end in late May, with final exams May 18-21. We anticipate hosting Commencement on Sunday, May 30, and will determine the celebration’s format, as well as the celebration for the Class of 2020, as we get closer to the spring.

We will be in touch with more specifics later this semester. These are challenging times, but I am heartened by the many ways that you have risen to these challenges. Thank you for all you are doing to care for yourselves and one another.

Sincerely,

Michael S. Roth, President