Photo by Rehat Thussu ‘23
By Rehat Thussu ’23
Staff Writer
It has been 10 months since Mount Holyoke announced its campus shutdown. This spring, the College reopened its doors to nearly 700 students across 12 residence halls and one apartment building, which is reserved for Frances Perkins scholars.
Before arriving, students attended a mandatory Community Compact training session. The Community Compact is a set of guidelines and rules that the College has prepared in accordance with the COVID-19 safety guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to minimize the risk of the spread of COVID-19 on campus. These rules include consenting to twice weekly testing, wearing masks in both indoor and outdoor public spaces and not housing guests, which are defined as anyone not living in a student’s residence hall. Each resident is required to adhere to the Community Compact to help maintain the safety of themselves and others on campus.
Rachel Alldis, the associate dean of students and director of Residential Life, explained that the College created the Community Compact through “a review of recommendations from a variety of sources, including the CDC [and] various higher education organizations who offered guidance on bringing students back to campus.”
Alldis added that the College wanted to emphasize what health and safety measures to take in order to prevent possible exposure to the virus. She mentioned that many departments within the College reviewed this plan before it was approved and shared with students.
“The Community Compact was created to provide guidance on how we can all live together in a way that protects one another and ourselves,” Alldis said. “I hope that students will take this document to heart and know that it is coming from a place of health and safety. If everyone wears a mask, … maintains physical distance and gets tested twice a week, we can quickly identify concerns and limit the spread of this virus within our campus. If we all agree to follow these guidelines, I feel confident we can get through this semester as a stronger community.”
Dining Services has also been working to ensure students receive their meals with limited risk of infection. Alan Anderson, a dining manager, explained how Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Richard Perna has been working with his managers, the local board of health and other food service directors from the Five Colleges and across the country to create a plan to safely feed students.
“Initially, we were planning on having a good portion of the population come back this past fall semester, but at the last minute, we had to pump the breaks and only let necessary students stay,” Anderson explained. “This gave us more time to work out any potential bugs, learn from other colleges’ successes and failures and throw ideas around, which I believe helped with our success.” He also said that Dining Services has fewer staff members working this semester, but so far it seems like a “normal hectic fall semester opening.”