June 14, 2021
Dear Colleagues:
For quite some time, I have been looking forward to sending this message. And I suspect that you have anticipated receiving it.
In light of the conditions in our community, and consistent with recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, effective immediately, students, employees, and campus visitors who have been fully vaccinated are no longer required to wear a face mask inside any university facility or while outside on our beautiful campus. We will promptly modify our health and safety protocols to reflect this change.
As we make those changes in anticipation of a traditional, on-campus experience in the Fall 2021 semester, our protocols will also reflect several other benefits of being vaccinated for COVID-19. Specifically, fully vaccinated students and employees:
- Will not be required to quarantine if they are identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive; and
- Will not be required to engage in physical distancing.
Fully vaccinated students will also be exempt from our pre-arrival COVID-19 testing requirement for the Fall 2021 semester.
Also, depending on health conditions on our campus during the Fall semester, we may be required to initiate mandatory surveillance COVID-19 testing for both students and employees. Fully vaccinated students and employees will be exempted from this possible requirement.
In the near future, we will share more details about these welcome changes. And I anticipate that we will offer some additional incentives for students and employees to be vaccinated.
The path that leads us to the vibrant, traditional on-campus experience that we value is clear: We need the vast majority of the members of our campus community to be vaccinated.
If you have not already done so, please get vaccinated. And if you need more information about the vaccines or how to find a vaccination site, please visit ourshot.in.gov.
Because of your cooperation and discipline, we are emerging from the pandemic, and we are poised to return to normal. Let’s finish the job.
Thank you for your support.
