Hello, Colgate Community.
Classes are officially underway. That means, for at least a few hours a day, we will all be talking about something that isn’t related to COVID. Differential equations have never looked more inviting.
As of midnight last night, there were two new cases of COVID identified through on-campus testing. Positive test results from our extensive efforts, as President Casey has noted, are to be expected, and we are ready to address them.
This is a good moment to say a few words about close contacts. Madison County defines these as people who have been within 6 feet of a positive COVID case for 10 minutes or longer. (Their definition is more stringent than the CDC’s.) But state contact tracers also take into consideration the type of contact as well as whether or not the positive individual was symptomatic.
Close contacts must conduct a 14-day quarantine from the time the last contact was made. Become a close contact tomorrow or a week from now, and you will not be out and about on Sept. 8 with the rest of campus.
Multiple students making close contact could lead to a super-spreader scenario and a fully remote semester. So, limit or eliminate being close contacts with anyone who is not your roommate; reduce the number of people with whom you interact at one time; and continue to do a great job of wearing a mask over your mouth and nose.
Please ask questions regarding confusing situations and information. Send your emails to covid19@colgate.edu, and we will make sure they are forwarded to the appropriate departments for clarification. I’m off for my meal delivery shift.
Talk to you tomorrow,
Laura H. Jack
Vice President for Communications
Take Note
Students and on-campus employees, please remember that you need to fill out your health screening form, located on the portal, every day. These data points help to drive the HAT dashboard, and we need accurate reporting to support our community health efforts. Please note that the employee health screening metric in particular is currently headed in the wrong direction. Only you can bring it back to new-normal status.
Student Health Services staff, athletics, and other colleagues thank the campus community for your good spirits and kindness during COVID testing. They have gotten to know 4,000 noses during the last two weeks. To access your test results, follow the instructions you received with your individual ID number. If you have misplaced that form, the Student Health Center has a master list of ID numbers for students and employees. During future tests, feel free to take a photo of the ID with your phone as a backup. Be well and stay well (wearing masks and staying 6 feet apart).
Founders’ Day Convocation marks the formal introduction of the faculty to the incoming class, and of the incoming class to the faculty. While the event could not take place this year, Provost Tracey Hucks sent the Class of 2024 this video to welcome them to campus and explain the significance of the tradition. For the more complete experience, watch last year’s convocation ceremony via Livestream.
Our Virtual Starry Skies is back on Friday evenings beginning August 28 at 7:00 p.m. Take a live virtual tour of the night sky, presented by the Ho Tung Visualization Lab and Planetarium. Learn about stories of legends, myths, and cosmological happenings. Register or follow along on YouTube live.
A Closing Thought
Universal quarantine is something new in Colgate history, but the coronavirus itself has a longer past. Associate Professor of Biology Geoff Holm tells us that the first disease identified to be caused by a coronavirus was an infectious respiratory disease in chickens, in North Dakota in 1931. The virus, infectious bronchitis virus, was isolated in 1933.
Colgate Together Events
Colgate Activism Panel
August 27
6 p.m.
Join us for a conversation with Colgate alumni as they discuss activism on and off campus moderated by Provost and Dean of the Faculty Tracey Hucks.
Evening Meditation with Rodney
August 28
5 p.m.
Chapel House Assistant Director of Programming and Lead Facilitator Rodney Agnant will be offering a virtual evening meditation session. No experience required.
Ruha Benjamin: Keynote Speaker for the 13 Days of Education
August 28
7 p.m.
The 13 Days of Education presents our keynote speaker, Ruha Benjamin, professor of African American studies at Princeton University. Check out the full 13 Days of Education schedule on the Colgate Student Coalition website.