Dear Kenyon students and colleagues,
I hope your summer has been restorative. Like many of you, the COVID Steering Committee has taken the summer to review plans for the upcoming academic year in anticipation of a fully populated and overwhelmingly vaccinated campus. We will provide an update on those plans next week, when we have confirmation of student immunization records, due this Friday.
I am writing to you today with a new development. As you may know, last week the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated its guidance based on new information about the transmission of the Delta variant among vaccinated individuals. In communities where there is a “substantial” or “high” level of transmission, the CDC is recommending that all individuals — even those fully vaccinated — wear a mask indoors when in public. While no cases of COVID-19 have been reported on Kenyon’s campus this summer, the level of community transmission in Knox County, Ohio, has crossed the threshold to high. After consulting with Knox Public Health, and with the impending arrival of students and families from across the country and around the globe, we are reinstating our universal mask requirement as an added precaution.
Effective Friday, Aug. 6, masks will be required indoors in the presence of others, regardless of vaccination status. There are a few exceptions to this: students in their residence hall or apartment; employees working alone in a private office or partitioned workspace; and individuals who are actively eating or exercising. Unvaccinated individuals should also continue to practice social distancing when in the presence of others.
These policies apply to members of the Kenyon community as well as to visitors. No other restrictions (e.g., distancing, gatherings, visitors, travel, etc.) are required for vaccinated individuals at this time, though we encourage all members of the Kenyon community to use their good judgement in assessing risk factors. Signs (PDF) reflecting the mask policy are available on the Kenyon website to download, print and display in College spaces.
As is our practice, we will continue to follow the data on transmission within the region and adjust our policies as necessary. We continue to be optimistic that the coming year will feel more like 2019 than 2020 and early 2021, but we know, too, that the situation is dynamic and that we need to be prepared to respond to changing conditions.
We are deeply appreciative of your partnership.
Sincerely,
Drew Kerkhoff
Chair, COVID-19 Steering Committee
Associate Provost and Professor of Biology