Jan. 14, 2022
Dear students,
As we begin the year, we want to take this opportunity to ask all students to recommit to diligent mask wearing. With rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in our community and the transmissibility of the omicron variant, now is not the time to relax.
We have noticed that some in our community are choosing to ignore Dartmouth’s face-covering requirement in indoor spaces, which is disheartening and not acceptable. Thank you to those who consistently wear masks indoors and around others; your efforts to keep the other members of the Dartmouth community safe have not gone unnoticed.
Dartmouth’s ability to maintain in-person learning this term relies on everyone in our community doing their part to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission on campus. This includes wearing your mask when indoors.
Wear a snug-fitting mask (preferably a KN95 face mask) indoors. KN95 masks are available for free at West Gym and at Collis—and (starting Monday)—at take-home test pick-up locations around campus.
Masking is required in all indoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status, which include: residence hall lobbies and hallways, dining areas when you are not actively eating, and in all other campus buildings.
All students who have tested positive for COVID-19 should be especially diligent about mask-wearing for the full 10 days after the day of their positive test, even if they have received a negative result from an antigen test taken before Day 10.
We also ask that you follow Dartmouth’s face-covering policy when you visit local dining, retail, or other establishments to show respect for the rest of our Upper Valley community.
The bottom line is this: Please wear your mask. This is part of your responsibility to treat the other students, faculty, and staff in our community with care and respect. It may seem like a small action, but it has a big impact.
Sincerely,
Rick and Dave