August 5, 2021
Dear Student,
We are thrilled to welcome you to Tulane this fall! While we had hoped to be fully free of COVID-19 restrictions, the number of COVID-19 cases in Louisiana, mostly from the delta variant, has spiked. Because of this, some safety protocols have been temporarily reinstated, including an indoor mask mandate, and restrictions related to gathering sizes. However, students will still be allowed to hold events using our standard event registration process.
Events at private residences are also allowed, but please follow these guidelines and be respectful of your neighbors. We will keep you updated as the situation changes, and we hope, improves. We believe that compliance now will result in these regulations being lifted as soon as possible. For a full list of the COVID-19 health expectations, please reference the most recent Campus Health update.
If you have not done so, please fill out the vaccination verification form through the Campus Health Patient Portal. You will not be permitted to start the semester if you have not done this.
We will host a webinar on the state of COVID and Fall 2021 on Thursday, August 12th at 6:00 p.m. CDT. Please look for a separate announcement regarding the webinar, including an opportunity to register, later this week.
As we begin the year, we will be in a High Priority Period. Many of you are familiar with this phrase, but for those of you who are new to our community, this is a period of time when we need to focus our staff resources on specific events or emergencies (Orientation, Move-in, severe weather-related preparations, etc.). Getting students moved in and acclimated to COVID safety protocols will be the focus of the current High Priority Period, which will begin on August 4 and continue through 8 a.m. on August 23.
- During this time, the entire campus will be alcohol-free and no events or activities, including sponsored off-campus events for undergraduate students, can include alcohol.
- Violations of the Student Code of Conduct during this period may result in more significant penalties. For first-year students, this may impact your ability to participate in fraternity or sorority recruitment and for upper class students, this could limit your ability to study abroad or to serve in a leadership role in student organizations.
In addition to high priority period restrictions, residence hall visitation will be limited to on-campus students only as we begin the new semester. Housing and Residence Life will update residential students on when the visitation restrictions will be lifted.
We know the last year and a half has been challenging for all of you in many different ways. Although we are not totally free from COVID restrictions, we are excited about the year ahead!
Sincerely,
Erica Woodley
Dean of Students
