Hello, Colgate Community.
We are not alone in working to end this Delta-variant surge. New York State is ramping up its masking mandates and other response efforts through the HERO Act, and Colgate is noting its plans for employees in response — see below for more details.
The dashboard currently shows 62 active student cases of COVID-19 and two active employee cases. As I passed by the quarantine location at 76 Broad yesterday, I saw some students taking the air, masks on, and I wished I could have given every one of them a cheer of encouragement. But that would have been awkward. Whether you’re there or elsewhere, hang in and we’ll see you soon.
Regardless of our current thoughts on COVID precautions and restrictions, we are all sharing another fall semester marked by anxiety. It might be a minor twinge, a crippling reaction, or something in between. And what you experience today is no predictor of what you will encounter tomorrow.
Please know that there are resources on campus to help you deal with stress and cultivate emotional wellness. We tend to focus exclusively on physical health when we talk about vaccinations, testing, and masking, but we must not miss the chance to state the obvious: this pandemic keeps messing with our heads.
Students, if you need assistance that friends and family members alone cannot provide, please check in with CLs, links, residential life staff, advisers, and counselors. They are all here to help you. Faculty and staff members, there are mental health resources available to you as well through human resources.
Taking a deep breath myself, I wish you a happy weekend. Talk to you on Monday.
Laura H. Jack
Vice President for Communications
Acting Chief Diversity Officer
Take Note
The New York Health and Essential Rights Act, known as the NY HERO Act, protects employees against exposure and disease during an airborne infectious disease outbreak through extensive workplace health and safety protections. This new law was signed by the governor on May 5, 2021, and the commissioner of health designated COVID-19 a highly contagious communicable disease across the State of New York on Monday, Sept. 6.
What does the Act require? The act requires that employers develop an Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan, which the University finalized on Aug. 4, 2021. This plan is now in effect and is available on the Colgate Together website. It includes all of the infection control measures that the University has implemented at various points during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. In support of this plan, the University is developing a website with additional resources, which will be shared in a message next week.
The plan includes a requirement for employees to continue to screen for symptoms before reporting to work. In support of this, the Daily Health Screening survey has been added back to the Colgate Portal as an optional tool for you to meet this requirement.
Have a friend or relative who wants to keep tabs on our digest news? Digest messages are posted on the Colgate Together website — pass along the link. Members of the off-campus community can also subscribe to receive periodic updates that we send to the Village of Hamilton.
Recognizing that everyone has a role to play in preventing suicide, all members of the Colgate University community are invited to learn how to talk to someone in distress and connect them with resources. The counseling center is offering Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention Training on Monday, Sept. 20, from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. Please register via this form.
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