Dear Kenyon staff, students, and families,
The third full semester of the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us, and the Kenyon community responded to a very challenging start by coming together to protect one another. Driven by the spread of the Delta variant, we had more than 200 student cases by the middle of the semester, but over the last two months that total only increased by about 10%, and the semester concluded with 222 cumulative student cases. More importantly, no students required acute medical care due to COVID-19, and the students overwhelmingly reported mild to moderate symptoms.
The fall semester was successful because each of you made responsible choices to protect yourselves and one another. The vast majority of you were fully vaccinated, taking the most important step you could toward the collective well being of the campus community. You monitored your symptoms carefully, completed over 5,000 PCR tests, and committed to wearing your masks even when it was uncomfortable. You gathered thoughtfully and safely, structuring your social lives not just to accommodate your coursework and professional duties but our case numbers as well. Delta made this semester harder than any of us wanted it to be, but in the end Kenyon made the transition from life under COVID to living with COVID. On behalf of the Steering Committee, I want to thank all of you for your resilience, your care, and your commitment.
Looking forward, despite how much has changed and how far we have come, it seems that in many ways we are in the same place. While Delta arrived on campus just as the fall semester was starting, the Omicron variant is expected to join us in the spring. Like Delta, Omicron appears to show increased transmissibility, but lower virulence. And while Omicron’s mutations may allow it to infect vaccinated individuals, there are early indications that staying up-to-date with the available vaccines, meaning both a full dosage and a booster, does provide significant protection by decreasing the likelihood of both contracting the virus and experiencing severe symptoms. Simply based on what has happened around the world, we know that Omicron is likely to spread rapidly. We will have cases on campus next semester, potentially in even larger numbers than we had this fall. But while Omicron is new, the steps we can take to limit its impact are the same. If we continue in our commitments to one another, by keeping up-to-date on our vaccinations, vigilantly donning masks, behaving responsibly, and caring for one another, Kenyon will persevere and weather any outbreak Omicron brings to us.
So with these new, yet familiar challenges ahead of us, what can we do to prepare?
- First, to the greatest extent possible, spend your break resting, refueling, and gathering your system of support. Tending to your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well being will let you start the semester with an energetic reserve to draw upon when faced with challenging circumstances.
- Second, we strongly encourage everyone who has not already done so to get the vaccine, and those who are already fully vaccinated should get a booster as soon as they are eligible. In terms of severe illness, COVID-19 is increasingly a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and in Ohio, more than 95% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have not had the vaccine. The potential devastation of another new surge, in part, motivated the recent U.S. Court of Appeals to remove the stay on the federal vaccine mandate for employers. While that decision has already been appealed, and the College continues to monitor the legal situation, winter break is an excellent opportunity to protect yourself and those around you by staying up-to-date with your COVID vaccine. The shots are both safe and remarkably effective at limiting viral spread and severe illness.
- Finally, as the semester approaches, take whatever measures you can to ensure that you are not bringing the virus back to Gambier with you. Gather responsibly and safely over the holidays, check symptoms regularly, and while it is not required, you may consider testing before traveling back to campus. If you are positive, isolation will generally be easier at home, and instructors will work with students whose arrival is delayed to ensure that they do not fall behind in class.
What will campus life look like this spring? As mentioned above, Omicron is new, but the steps we can take to limit its impact are the same. To start the semester, we will again engage in a round of comprehensive, compulsory testing as students return to campus. In conjunction with testing, the campus will move temporarily to a modified, precautionary Campus Activity Level 3. During this time, we anticipate that Peirce will be open for indoor dining due to the cold and unpredictable winter weather. At present, classes are expected to start in person and athletic practices and some registered events will proceed as normal if possible. However, most other meetings and events will be conducted remotely and student gatherings will be limited to 10 individuals. Contingent on the re-entry testing results and the status of campus and local community, we hope to return to more normal campus operations (Activity Level 1 or 2) after the first week or two. Once the semester is under way, operations will be managed much as they were in the fall, based on evolving campus circumstances and protecting our capacity to manage cases. As new information about both Omicron and the next wave of the pandemic becomes clearer, we will modify our strategy accordingly. Another communication will follow in early January providing further details about re-entry testing and campus operations for the spring semester.
The relentlessly repetitive nature of the pandemic is perhaps most exhausting and challenging. With each new wave, it can seem as if we are the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, forever running as fast as we can just to stay in the same place. But while the spring semester is likely to offer another wave of challenges, both novel and familiar, our collective experience this fall shows us that we can handle it. The Omicron variant will be with us this spring, but we will keep running with it, and unlike the Red Queen, when May arrives we will look back and find that we have in fact come very far.
On behalf of the steering committee, I wish all of you a warm, healthy, and safe winter break.
Sincerely,
Drew Kerkhoff