Elon implements “social hiatus” to slow COVID-19 on main campus

Members of the Elon community,

Our efforts to identify cases, target testing, and disrupt the virus are showing signs of working. In order to continue this trend, we need extra vigilance from the entire campus. This weekend and the coming days will be critical to keep our efforts going. Your participation in all of the items below, along with our efforts to increase testing and deeply analyze COVID-19 case data, will help to slow the spread within the Elon community.

We expect to identify additional cases today and through the weekend as we receive results from targeted testing. Please read the section below on “decreasing your personal bubble,”  as we continue to see that personal behavior is allowing the virus to spread in small groups where people are together indoors with friends and not wearing masks or maintaining adequate distance. There is no evidence that infection is happening in classrooms or offices.

We have begun additional modeling with our data analytics partners at Cone Health and continuing consultation with infectious disease specialist Dr. Cynthia Snider at Cone Health.

In the meantime, we will immediately implement a social hiatus to further slow the spread of the virus and hopefully avoid more extreme steps that could be required if the campus is forced to shift from our current status of Level 3 – High Alert.

The following measures are in effect on Elon’s main campus beginning 5 p.m., Friday, Sept. 25, and through end of day Wednesday, Sept. 30:

• Dining: All dining service will be grab-and-go starting with dinner tonight, Friday, September 25, through Wednesday evening. There will be no seating in dining halls. Please use outdoor tents, patio tables or other spaces where you can safely remove your mask to eat and stay distanced from others.
• Residence Halls and Apartments: No visitors are allowed in residence hall rooms or apartments on campus. Students are only be allowed to enter their own residential facility.
• Travel: Non-essential travel to and from campus should be limited. Public health tells us we can limit spread by staying on campus and limiting interactions.
• Phoenix Athletics: Intercollegiate athletics activities and operations remain suspended.
• Club Sports: All Club Sports, intramurals, and Elon Outdoors trips are suspended. Campus Recreation remains open with limited operations under the current safety precautions and protocols.
• Campus events and activities: All scheduled in-person campus events are being reviewed to assess risk and may proceed only with express permission of Student Life (for student organization activities) or department chairs or directors (for university-sponsored events).

Classes and campus operations

All classes will continue to be held as announced by individual faculty members. Campus offices remain open and staff members should continue their current work schedules and arrangements. In support of campus COVID-19 mitigation efforts, some staff members may have reassigned duties as directed by their supervisors.

What students CAN do during this time

1. Self-Care: Taking care of our mental and physical health is essential as we increase our efforts to slow the virus. Don’t be afraid to leave your room so long as you are wearing a mask and physically distancing. As the rain stops, take a walk or hike. Pick up a meal and have a 2-3 person, physically distanced and masked, picnic on the grass or under the tents. Swipe into the library. Watch a movie with a friend while wearing masks, spend time outdoors with a small group and support one another.
2. Decrease your personal bubble: To help this effort succeed, you are asked to reassess and decrease the size of your personal bubble – the small number of people who make up your Elon family. These are the 1-3 people who you can safely be around with relaxed precautions. This might include your roommate or perhaps suitemates in small living situations. Your personal bubble is NOT your entire residence hall floor or the group of ten people you regularly hang out with. With those larger groups, you MUST wear your mask and maintain physical distance. This reduction is needed to stop the spread of the virus. The focus at this point needs to be on going to class, going to work, studying, relaxing with just a couple of close contacts, spending time outdoors, and spending time at home.

This temporary social hiatus will be reassessed during the middle of next week. Depending on the impact of this effort and the number of cases reported over the weekend, the hiatus may be continued. Please read all campus communications to stay aware of adjustments in policies and operations.

Thank you for your cooperation and participation in this critical strategy to reduce the spread of the virus in our community.

Sincerely,

Jeff Stein, Chair, Ready & Resilient Committee

The Ready & Resilient Committee

• Dan Anderson, Vice President of University Communications
• Ginette Archinal, Medical Director of Student Health and University Physician
• MarQuita Barker, Director of Residence Life
• John Barnhill, Associate Vice President for University Advancement
• Tom Flood, Assistant Vice President of Physical Plant
• Jason Husser, Associate Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies, and Director of the Elon Poll (Academic Council Representative)
• Deandra Little, Assistant Provost, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and Professor of English
• Paul Miller, Assistant Provost for Academic Operations and Communications and Professor of Exercise Science
• Kelly Reimer, Director of Teaching and Learning Technologies (Staff Council Representative)
• Carrie Ryan, Director of Auxiliary Services
• Kelli Shuman, Associate Vice President for Human Resources & Chief Human Resources Officer
• Gabie Smith, Dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology
• Mary Southern, Project Manager for Provost and Academic Affairs Operations (Project Manager)
• Mike Ward, Deputy Director of Athletics
• Randy Williams, Vice President and Associate Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Assistant Professor of Education