Jan. 12, 2022

To the Dartmouth community,

 As cases of COVID-19 continue to surge in our region and around the world, many epidemiologists and public health officials observe that we are moving from pandemic to endemic status, although it is still not certain how severe or disruptive the virus will become over time. Federal guidance and local government policies are shifting their focus from containing the spread of the virus to reducing risk and making it easier for people who have been vaccinated and boosted to resume normal activities while taking precautionary measures.

As an institution serving thousands of students, we are also acutely aware of the mental health crisis in this country. In the fall of 2020, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children’s Hospital Association, and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry declared an emergency in child and adolescent mental health. Young people are more intensely affected by the isolation, anxiety, and grief associated with the pandemic. Our decision to prioritize in-person classes, academic events, gym access, and restricted but congregate dining is directly connected to the imperative of preserving the mental and physical health of our students.

This does not mean, however, that we can let our guard down. Dartmouth will continue to require masking for everyone indoors, social distancing, ongoing surveillance testing, isolation for people who test positive for the virus, and vaccinations and booster shots for everyone in our community for the foreseeable future. It was your compliance with these guidelines—for example, nearly 98% of our campus community has been vaccinated—that enabled us to begin the academic year in person. The crisis that is building in our hospitals and among health care workers in our region and the rising number of children with serious COVID-19 infections make these ongoing precautions essential.

As always, we continue to evaluate our strategies, and we anticipate that some classes will need to be moved online for some periods of time based on the situation in individual courses. We appreciate the ongoing flexibility of our faculty, students, and staff, as we work our way through this wave, which is predicted to begin declining later this month. We’ve been pleased to see your commitment to masking, distancing, grab-and-go dining, and other important tactics. By taking sensible measures and looking out for one another, we can preserve the health and well-being of those in our extended community and continue to enjoy the benefits of being together on campus this winter.

Sincerely,
Dave and Rick