Dear parents and families,
I am writing to share an important COVID-19 update that we sent to our students this evening. The health of our community continues to be our highest priority and informing our students of changes to COVID-19 rates on campus is an important part of our strategy. After many weeks of extremely low COVID-19 rates on our campus, what we are experiencing now represents a slight uptick in cases. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and share information as needed.
Warmly,
Dr. G
March 31, 2022
Dear Danforth Campus students,
It has been wonderful to see so many of you over these past weeks as you returned from Spring Break. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been making decisions for our community based on conditions on campus, in the region, and across the country. At this time, while cases nationally and in the St. Louis region remain low, we have seen an uptick in the number of infections among students on the Danforth Campus. We don’t know if this is due to spring break travel or other factors, but the increase is meaningful enough that we feel everyone should be aware of this trend so we can all take steps to head off a potential large outbreak that could have a negative impact on our in-person activities.
Starting today and for the next two weeks (through April 15), we are strongly encouraging students to wear masks at all in-person gatherings, including in the classroom. As always, faculty may ask students to mask in class and while the university’s “mask-optional” policy remains in effect, we expect you to consider such requests in the classroom and elsewhere in the spirit of common courtesy to ensure that your peers and instructors are comfortable. We’re a community that supports one another and it’s important that we show each other respect and consideration during this time.
We’re working closely with our medical experts and will communicate directly to you with any additional changes that might be needed. For the latest university policies at any time, visit the WashU Together website.
Our ultimate goal is to keep our community safe and healthy. When I first came to WashU in July, one of my goals was to ensure that you will have a successful academic year. I know that we want to all finish the spring semester without disruption to our daily activities, events, and the upcoming traditions that we’re all looking forward to. I’m grateful for your support and ongoing resilience and patience as we navigate the twists and turns of emergence from a global pandemic.
Warmly,
Dr. G
Anna “Dr. G” Gonzalez
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs