Dear Marist Community,

We are pleased to announce that the precautionary campus pause, which began on November 5, will be lifted effective Monday, November 16 with on-ground classes to resume at 8:00 a.m. New York State requires colleges to move classes online if they reach a threshold of 100 cases or 5% of the campus population within a two week period. Although Marist never reached that threshold, the College erred on the side of caution and paused campus activities with a significantly lower number of cases to prioritize the continued safety of campus and the local community.  

During this time, the College conducted more than 4,000 tests and was actively engaged in aggressive contact tracing to contain the virus. These efforts resulted in a dramatic decline in cases, and coupled with strong student cooperation, were key in controlling the spread, and achieving a seven-day positivity rate lower than that of Dutchess County and the Mid-Hudson Region.

Even with this dramatic decline in cases among the community, the safety of our and the local community is our top priority. Therefore, we will maintain limitations. The following conditions will be in place:

• On-ground classes will resume
• All on- and off-campus activities, including gatherings of any kind, are not permitted
• For public health reasons, students are encouraged to limit their interactions to their “pod” (e.g. roommates or immediate housemates)
• Outdoor individual or small group “pod” activities, with appropriate public health measures in place, are permitted (e.g. taking a walk around campus, eating outside, socializing with roommates, etc.)
• Students must stay within their own room/apartment in their residence facility. Students are prohibited from visiting any other room, traditional residence hall, apartment, or townhouse
• In-person dining is paused and meal plans are grab-and-go only
• All athletic team training sessions remain canceled
• The James J. McCann Recreation Center remains closed to recreational activity
• Students must remain on campus and avoid traveling unless such travel is directed by Marist health professionals or staff
• Only officially approved visitors are allowed on campus
• Students who have gone home may only return to campus if cleared by Marist Health Services

We’re extremely grateful to the staff members who have gone above and beyond their ordinary responsibilities to keep the campus safe. We also applaud our faculty who, despite challenging conditions, have demonstrated their dedication to teaching our students. And, of course, we thank our students, who have responded to the challenges of this ever-changing environment by adopting the appropriate health protocols to enable us to continue the semester. 

Information on cases related to Marist is always available on our dashboard, which is updated daily. If you see any Marist community member violating our COVID-19-related Code of Conduct, please call (845) 575-MASK.

Thank you for all you have done to “protect the pack” this fall. Let’s finish strong. 

Sincerely,
Geoff Brackett, Executive Vice President
Thom Wermuth, Vice President for Academic Affair
Deb DiCaprio, Vice President for Student Affairs