Please Do Not Travel to Campus or the Town of Middlebury

Dear Students,

We hope this finds you well and successfully completing your academic work, which we know hasn’t been easy during this semester of unprecedented challenges. Traditionally, this is the time of year to gather and celebrate your hard work and accomplishments. And it’s natural to want to gather together.

We’re writing to remind you to please stay vigilant and follow the safety protocols that are the only way that you—and those around you as well as your communities—can keep healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’ve also become aware that increasing numbers of you are returning to the Town of Middlebury to be together to celebrate your undergraduate experience.

We can’t say this emphatically enough: please don’t travel back to Middlebury. Please honor the safety protocols we’ve put in place. This is for your own benefit and the benefit of all, particularly those who are most vulnerable to the coronavirus. The people whom you are protecting are not unknown to you—they include folks who are your friends, mentors, and professors.

With campus effectively closed, and the town only incrementally emerging from stay-at-home orders, now is not the time to return to the area. Middlebury is fortunate to have no new cases of COVID-19 in several weeks. We know that could change at any moment, and the mere perception that a recurrence was due to Middlebury students not following the governor’s orders could adversely impact students returning in the fall. We need you to help us maintain the best possible conditions on campus now, so that we have a greater possibility of opening in the fall.

If for any reason you choose to travel anywhere from your current situation, we urge you to follow best practices: to respect the 14-day self-quarantine period required under many states’ executive orders; maintain adequate physical distancing and not gather in large groups; wear a mask whenever you’re near others. Better still, wait to travel if you don’t need to, as difficult as that might be.

With appreciation,

Baishakhi Taylor

Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students

Mark Peluso

Director of Health Services

Derek Doucet

Senior Associate Dean of Students