By Anna Hsu, Co-Editor-in-Chief
On September 1, Bryn Mawr’s President Kim Cassidy announced in an email to students that the College would be moving to Level 2 of its Bi-Co Mitigation Plan, effective September 8 to September 14. The Mitigation Plan, published August 31, contains four risk levels for both Haverford and Bryn Mawr. Movement between different operating levels is contingent on behavioral patterns and COVID-19 prevalence among community members. As of the time of writing, Haverford remains at Level 1.
Level 1, the baseline, assumes that all members are observing safety protocols correctly, including wearing masks, maintaining six feet of distance from others, and prioritizing remote meetings where possible. It remains in place until 3% or more of all on-campus students and employees test positive for COVID-19, or if risk factors for potential outbreak surface. A “pivot” to Level 2 is motivated by several risk factors, the leading indicator being “inconsistent or declining” adherence to mitigating behaviors (e.g. no physical distancing, improper mask usage, and/or participation in large gatherings).
According to President Cassidy’s email, Bryn Mawr students “have not been completing the symptom check verifications,” some “have not been consistent in wearing masks,” and others “have not reported for testing.” Most significantly, the administration was informed that “some undergraduate students engaged in gatherings [over the] weekend, without masks,” and that “several others travelled off-campus.”
On September 2, a student Town Hall was hosted over Zoom to help clarify student concerns and questions. However, details about protocol to follow for the specific levels were not provided. The guidelines are posted online for students to read. A condensed form of the changes is listed below; an asterisk (*) indicates that this information was disclosed in the Town Hall panel, but is currently not available online.
Effects of pivoting to Level 2 (for Bryn Mawr College)
- Majority of in-person classes are shifted to remote.
- Students are not allowed to visit other dorms and should remain within their rooms.
- Dining changes to take-out only.
- Delivery drivers are not permitted to be on campus or within dorms. If students order takeout, they should request curbside pickup.*
- Additional surveillance testing will be conducted.
- Testing may be conducted every 10 days instead of once per month.*
- Indoor meetings are strongly discouraged; group sizes are limited to less than 10 people.
- Travel is only allowed when authorized per the Travel Policy.
- Employees increase remote work.
- Campus Center retail is closed; the Bookstore is “take-out only.”
What has remained the same:
- Students are not permitted to have guests in their dorm rooms.
- If students spend time outside of their rooms, they must wear masks and maintain six feet of physical distance even within their common rooms.
- Students are not permitted to leave campus except for essential operations.
- Indoor athletic facilities are not open for use.
Clarifications:
- At Level 1, Bryn Mawr and Haverford students can visit other residents’ dorm rooms as guests. However, Bryn Mawr has not officially been operating at Level 1. During the screening/quarantine phase, no students are allowed to host visitors in their dorm rooms.*
- At Level 1, students can use the Blue Bus for academic class times and for essential shopping. At Level 2, it can only be used for academic class times.
- At Level 2, indoor group activities (not limited to those occurring in athletic facilities) cannot involve aerobic activity or heavy breathing.
After September 14, Bryn Mawr will consider shifting back to Level 1 based on community behavior and overall COVID-19 rates in the interim. Haverford recently updated its COVID-19 Expectations for students living on campus, reminding them of their commitment to the health and safety of the community. Both Bryn Mawr and Haverford are treating unintentional infractions of the COVID-19 policies with an educational approach. However, blatant violations of either College’s policies could result in removal from campus and compulsory transition to remote learning for the rest of the semester.
Image Credit: Yaroslav Danylchenko, Pexels
Correction: Bryn Mawr has not been operating at Level 1 as of September 7. At Level 1, students from both Bryn Mawr and Haverford are allowed to host guests in their rooms. We have revised the clarification on guest policy accordingly.
