The message is being sent to all Duke undergraduate students.

The choices you make now could impact your health and the health of those around you, your planned holiday travel, our ability to keep Duke running this fall, and significantly change Duke’s plans for the spring.

• We know it’s Halloween. But COVID doesn’t take holidays, and neither can we. We have to keep doing everything in our power to keep each other safer and minimize COVID transmission. 
• Wear your mask. Stay physically distant. Abide by the Duke Compact. Choose safer, virtual activities this year. 
• Don’t forget that, per the Duke Compact, no travel outside of Durham is permitted this fall, even if it is just down the road.
• Remember that any gathering of 5 or more members of an organization will be considered an organizational event, and both the individuals as well as the organization may be held accountable for any violations. 
• Limit ANY group gatherings, even small ones! People are giving each other COVID in groups of even 2-3. Don’t risk it. 
• Don’t eat together or share food. All Duke Dining locations are now pick-up only, and eating is no longer allowed in common rooms. Stay at least 6’ apart while eating, and choose a safer place to eat—outside or in your room, away from crowds. This means no groups crowded around a table or sitting close together indoors or outdoors.

• 19 — Administrative Action Hearings held (for individuals and groups) recommending interim actions such as suspension of activities, loss of campus privileges, remote learning, etc.
• 5  — Campus organizations placed on suspension
• 6  — Individual students issued interim suspensions for flagrant violations of COVID policy expectations and the Duke Compact pending an administrative hearing, including for hosting gatherings and failing to follow quarantine and isolation protocols to protect fellow students.
• 179 —  Sanctions implemented by either Office of Student Conduct or Housing and Residence Life—these actions are part of a student’s conduct record and in some cases reportable to graduate schools, study away programs, and employers
• 408 — Students referred for educational interventions for less severe infractions of the Duke Compact—these outcomes are not part of a students’ disciplinary record
• 11 — Pending cases under review for potential administrative action involving more flagrant misconduct and persistent non-compliance by individuals.
  
  

As a result of these violations, some students have lost their right to remain on campus and must work remotely for the remainder of the semester. Some also face charges that could result in their suspension or permanent expulsion from Duke.