Yesterday, Dr. Penny Rue, Vice President for Campus Life, sent out a message to families of the Class of 2020 discouraging them to return to Winston-Salem for in-person social connections; read it here (a similar message went out to families of students still living in Deacon Place). The gist of the message is that some seniors are apparently planning to return to Winston-Salem (or have already come back) because they want to be with their friends and celebrate in the same way they would have done at post-exams in various NC & SC beaches.
In the interest of public health, we ask families’ help in discouraging seniors (or students from any year really) from coming back to Winston-Salem just for socializing. In a similar vein, we want to discourage students who stayed in Winston-Salem (either because they were approved to stay in Deacon Place or because they have rental houses/apartments of their own) from opening up their residences to visiting seniors.
This is not meant to be draconian in any way or to diminish the importance of the bonds of friendship our students have made (or their very real desire for connection in a time that is so fraught with anxiety and isolation). This is because we want to protect the health of our students and also the health of our campus and larger community.
We want to avoid situations where students – understandably starved for each other’s company – gather in groups of more than 10, or do not heed the 6′ distance recommended between people. With new information that has emerged about how people can shed the virus and expose others (even when they have no symptoms themselves), it is especially important to avoid social situations with a lot of people in close proximity. Nothing is worth risking your health over.
We are grateful to families for reinforcing the importance of social distancing. We know it is hard for your students. It’s hard for us too.
There have been so many times since COVID-19 that I have talked to Class of ’27 about how unfair it feels not to be able to do what we are longing to do. And I am reminded of this, which is a saying I go back to sometimes when I am feeling burdened.
