Important Updates and Reminders for Students

Dear Students,

Campus is coming to life with your arrival! After months of planning this summer, seeing your faces and hearing laughter on campus again has been wonderful. With care and teamwork, we can make this semester a successful one. I write today to provide you with a series of important updates and reminders. Please take the time to read them carefully.

Upcoming activities

We know this arrival period is an unusual one, but lots of people are working hard to make it just a bit easier. Here are a few things we have planned:

• The Middlebury College Activities Board (MCAB) is setting up trivia nights (including sessions specifically for first-years and another co-sponsored by the International Students Organization), a virtual escape room, and more.
• Presence– Presence (go/presence) is the go-to online location to find out about student organization sponsored events, MCAB offerings, and more. This year, a number of orientation events open to all students will be featured in Presence as well. New to navigating Presence? Check out the video tutorial “Finding Events Happening Around Campus”.
• Student Activities Office (SAO) – The Student Activities Office will be providing Take Home Activities the week of August 31. Activities include nerf basketball, card games, paint by numbers, Lego kits, and more. Information and instructions on how to pick up an activity will be posted in Presence soon.

Confidentiality in contact tracing

As we continue our COVID-19 testing program throughout the semester, we want to assure you that contact tracing is a completely confidential process. Information that is acquired through contact tracing will not be shared with the Dean of Students Office or the Office of Community Standards for the purpose of referring a student to the student conduct system for any violation.

Deliveries to campus

Many local businesses deliver to campus. While for health and safety reasons we can’t allow deliveries directly to your residence halls, we’ve arranged a central delivery point at a tent in E-lot, behind Wright Memorial Theater near 75 Shannon Street. Simply make your purchase with the business, give them this location, and arrange a time to meet them to pick up your items. Items cannot be stored at the delivery point, so a specific pick-up time is essential. Paying over the phone is strongly encouraged to minimize the chance of transmission. Alcohol deliveries are not permitted. Students in room quarantine or isolation may not use this service. We expect this process to be in place at least through the end of phase 1 of our reopening. 

Alcohol on campus

Our first-year and sophomore communities are alcohol-free zones. Students 21 and older who choose to drink alcohol are expected to do so responsibly.

Alcohol and Covid-19

Violations of the Alcohol and Other Drugs policy are typically addressed as primarily affecting the individual involved. The educational sanctions assigned reflect this emphasis. While we continue to live with the COVID-19 pandemic, violations of the AOD policy may affect not only the individual in violation, but also expose the wider community to elevated risk. This elevated potential risk will be taken into account in our responses.

Sober friend

Until we are through phase 1 of our reopening and are confident we have a healthy campus, the sober friend policy will not be in effect. Highly intoxicated students will therefore need to be assessed by EMS for possible medical treatment.

Student IDs

We’ll all be wearing facial coverings this fall, and additional buildings that are typically open during the day have been added to the card access system. This makes it particularly important to carry your student ID with you at all times. As a reminder, if asked, you are required to provide your student ID to any College official, including student Residential Life staff.

Off-campus storage access

If you have belongings in an off-campus storage facility you may request permission to access them after receipt of your second, day 7 negative test result. Email DOS@middlebury.edu and include the date and time you’d like to visit your storage unit. Note that we’ll need at least 24 hours notice to respond with permission. 

I wish you a healthy start to the semester.

Warmly,

Derek Doucet

Dean of Students