A Welcome Message

Dear Middlebury Community, 

As you are probably aware, today is the day that 325 of our student leaders return to campus. We are excited to have our students back on campus, even as the Middlebury world they are returning to has radically changed and the semester they are about to embark on will be unlike any other semester in Middlebury’s history. 

Students are taking their Day 0 tests and entering room quarantine. A reminder: When students receive their first negative results, they may move around on campus under our campus quarantine rules. They will take their second test on Day 7. The campus remains under quarantine until all students have completed both tests and classes have started. The campus will remain closed to visitors all semester.  

We will be posting updates on testing on a new COVID-19 Reporting Dashboard. I am inspired by the fact that, in a recent survey about their return to campus, our students said that their No. 1 priority was not their own health but the health of the community. Dozens of them have also prepared short videos describing what they will be doing to take care of themselves and the people around them. We will also be sharing those with you in the coming days.​ 

In addition to welcoming them, I write to thank all of you for your extraordinary efforts on behalf of the safety and well-being of our learning community, and the vibrancy of our educational mission. While we remain optimistic, I also want to emphasize that we will continue to monitor conditions on and off campus as we implement our plans, and we are prepared to reverse course and close our campus if that becomes necessary. 

I and many members of the team will be out and about on campus and at the testing center today. We look forward to greeting those of you on campus and thanking you in person. In the meantime, I know we will collectively do everything we can to stay safe and healthy. 

Yours cordially, 

Laurie Patton