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I hope the semester is going well. ÌýI am writing to announce that—as of Monday, September 26^th—the wearing of masks in Â鶹ÊÓƵ classrooms will no longer be required but rather optional and encouraged. With classes and activities now underway for several weeks, we arrived at this decision based on feedback from our community and our safety efforts. ÌýWe have achieved notably high vaccination rates of approximately 98 percent. We will continue to provideÌýon-campus PCR testing, which helps detect COVID-19 as early as possible in the course of infection and limits spread. Thanks to these measures and to good individual health practices, such as staying home when one is sick­, we can safely continue our academic pursuits and support our community as we navigate this next phase of COVID-19.Ìý

A number ofÌýÌýshow thatÌýindividuals wearing high-quality masks enhance their own safety. The Â鶹ÊÓƵ community is committed to respecting and supporting one another’s choices, which may be based on one’s own health and family situations. We ask you toÌýgive full consideration to requests from fellow community members to wear a mask. Masks will still be required in campus health care settings, including the Student Health Center, the Center for Wellbeing ProgramsÌýand Psychological Services, and the Academic Support and Access Center.

The recently released bivalent COVID-19 vaccine boosters are designed to prevent serious illness and death from the dominant variants of COVID-19. We strongly recommend that youÌýget a boosterÌýas soon as you are eligible. It will support your health and help keep the community safe. ÌýCDC guidelines now include the boosters as part of staying up to date on one’s COVID vaccinations. ÌýYou can find the closest location for vaccines and boosters on the CDC’s Vaccine FinderÌý.

Also,Ìýseasonal flu shots are now available and highly encouraged.ÌýÌýThis is another important way to protect your health and support our community as we continue with in-person activities throughout the fall and winter.Ìý

We all have a responsibility to followÌý. As always, do not come to class or participate in other campus activities if you are sick or exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. You should continue to test if you have symptoms or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive or is symptomatic. Faculty should continue to support students who miss class for health reasons by providing them with class materials such as notes, assignments, and/or recorded lectures.ÌýÌýStudents should communicate with their instructors if they need to be absent for health-related reasons and are also encouraged to engage with classmates about what they might have missed.

We will continue to monitor conditions and update the community as needed. While individual case count numbers are a less effective measure of COVID-19’s impact than previously, we continue to track CDC and DC Health guidance, the overall severity of disease (e.g., hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19), and the university’s ability to safely provide academic and support services to our community.

Thank you for your continued support of our Â鶹ÊÓƵ community of care!