Welcome Home: Fall 2020
Welcome back home, Demon Deacons!
We are so excited to open the doors of campus and begin the academic year at this special place.
The spring and summer have been filled with uncertainty and numerous challenges in our society, ranging from a pandemic, financial crises, and civil unrest that has exposed deep inequity in our world. In the midst of this, we have been hard at work to develop a plan where you can safely live, learn, grow, be challenged, and celebrate here on campus. We are confident in our way forward and are excited to begin the journey with you.
Please be sure you have read the details and logistics of move-in. This will help you prepare for move-in day. Also, a message went out earlier this morning in error about steps to complete the move-in process. This was an auto-generated message from our housing software and should not have been sent; our apologies for this. Students were sent a follow-up message indicating they should disregard that message.
Beyond move-in, we want you to know that the residence halls will look different this year. As we’ve announced previously, we have worked closely with our public health experts to create a plan to reduce the number of people living in our residence halls and participating in activities on campus at any one time. We have carefully reviewed our residential offerings and have reduced occupancy where needed to promote the wellbeing of all community members.
In addition to reducing density at individual student rooms, shared spaces will also be impacted. We take great pride in our buildings and know that relationships are formed and shaped through interactions in the hallway, lobbies, and even laundry rooms. Most of our signature common spaces will remain open, although many study spaces, lounges, and kitchens will remain closed to begin the year. You can review the COVID-19 Addendum to the Guide to Community Living here and the Public Health Emergency Addendum to the Undergraduate Student Code of Conduct here. Both are critical documents to understand what we need from each other to start and finish the semester well.
You will only have access with your Deacon OneCard to your residence hall, suite, or apartment, as applicable. You will still be allowed to have guests in your room but those will be limited to residential students. Additional restrictions include only one guest per person and no more than ten in a living space, provided everyone can maintain physical distance. As everywhere, you and your guest should wear cloth face coverings when you are inside the residence halls. Finally, no overnight guests will be permitted. Non-student visitors will be restricted and not allowed in the residence halls.
As we have communicated previously, we will start the semester with all student organization lounges and patios closed, with the exception of lounges that have specific equipment needs such as Campus Kitchen. Additionally, informal and spontaneous gatherings on student organization patios are not permitted. We hope to be able to expand student access to these areas but will only do so if public health conditions permit.
We know that it’s hard to follow along with all of the changes this year, but please know that they have been made to keep you safe and retain the essence of Wake Forest. Ours is a caring community, and the best way that you can show others that you care about their safety is by taking these precautions to heart. Wearing a cloth face covering, washing your hands, and keeping physical distance are the little things that show Wake Forest we care about this place and its people. I hope this demonstrates how important it is that we Show Humanitate this year.
Warmly,
Matt Clifford, Ed.D.
Assistant Vice President of Campus Life
and Dean of Residence Life and Housing