February 3 COVID Message from President Hall

Mercy College seal

 

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

As part of Mercy’s spring reopening, all residential students were required to supply two negative COVID-19 tests: one shortly before coming to campus and the other four days after arrival. While several positive cases were identified prior to students’ return to campus, over the last few weeks we have seen an uptick in positive cases among students who moved back into our residence halls in Dobbs Ferry.

As a result, Dobbs Ferry residential students were informed earlier tonight that they are required to remain in the residence halls for the next two days as of 11 p.m. tonight. More information has been communicated to those students. During the next two days, students will have meals delivered and will participate in their courses remotely. They will also participate in additional COVID-19 testing to ensure that any additional positive cases are identified. Faculty are asked to accommodate residential students who must miss in-person classes because of this.

Tomorrow we will be hosting a Town Hall at 12:30 p.m. to discuss these developments and answer any questions.  Please use this link below to join the meeting. We will be hosting another meeting with residential hall students and they have received that information separately.

In the last several weeks, we have seen rising numbers of cases on campuses across the country and are closely monitoring the COVID-19 variants that the scientific community understands to be spreading more rapidly.  We are instituting these measures early on to stem further spread in our community. As we learned during the fall, it is possible to maintain a low number of positive cases when everyone supports our health and safety protocols, and we thank each of you for your continued vigilance on and off campus.

We will continue to keep you informed throughout the spring term.

Sincerely,

Tim Hall
President