Dear Brown Community Members,

I am pleased to inform the Brown community that effective Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the Campus Activity Status will be at Level 2. As we announced last month, the University has established a system for what levels of activity are permissible on campus under prevailing health conditions at any given time, and a change in activity level affects all who study, work and live at Brown.

This move to Level 2 is a testament to the collective commitment of Brown students, staff and faculty to promote and sustain a safe and healthy campus. Your dedication and hard work to follow public health guidance — including mask wearing, hand washing, symptom monitoring, social distancing, seeking medical advice when sick and active participation in the routine testing program — has enabled us to take this important step. Thank you for all that you have and will continue to do in this regard.

The details of the range of activities that are permissible under Level 2 can be found on the Campus Activity Status webpage on Healthy.Brown.edu.

Please be sure to read both the newly permitted activities, and also the ongoing restrictions on student activities, dining, socializing, and out-of-state travel that remain limited because of public health guidance.

Highlights of newly permitted activities include:

• Undergraduate classes of 19 students or less can meet in-person as of Oct. 5, 2020.

• Libraries are open, and undergraduate, graduate and medical students can reserve study space seating using the LibCal Seat Booking tool.

• University-sponsored and University-organized in-person events hosted by staff (such as lectures, outdoor films, religious services, etc.) will be held, preferably outdoors, with mask wearing and social distancing.

• A number of University spaces inside buildings and under tents are now available for individual or group study or informal interactions. Some are reservable, while others are open use, all requiring masks and social distancing. See the Oct. 1, 2020, “Preparing for Hybrid Instruction” community announcement on Healthy.Brown.edu for more information.

• All community members are strongly encouraged to exercise outdoors, both on- and off-campus and to take advantage of getting outside as much as possible while following health protocols. University athletic and recreational facilities — including outdoor fields and courts and the Nelson Fitness Center — will become increasingly available to students.

• Students dining and socializing in their pods (a stable group of five people or less, or the number of their immediate room, suite or apartment mates) may do so without a mask, but should be especially careful to wear a mask outside of their pod and avoid crossing pods without a mask and social distancing. A pod refers to immediate household groups – co-workers or research colleagues are not a pod.

Ongoing Limitations and Health Protocols:

Continued vigilance on everyone’s part will be critical to staying in Level 2, including making well-informed personal decisions based on accurate public health guidance about managing risk and trade-offs as new variables, like in-person classes for undergraduates, get introduced.

All community members must continue to follow this guidance:

• Student organization events, activities and meetings will continue to be virtual (student organizations and leaders will be actively involved in planning and carrying out the University-sponsored and University-organized events described above).

• Brown community members should continue to avoid in-person dining and do not go to bars or other settings with crowds where social distancing and/or mask-wearing is not taking place.

• Restrictions on out-of-state travel remain in place.

• Students with the location of study “remote, outside of the Providence area” should not visit the Providence area because they are not enrolled in Brown’s testing program.

• Visitors and guests are not currently allowed on campus, except as specifically approved in departmental Return to Campus and/or Return to Research plans.

• Masks and social distancing remain among the most important health and safety measures we can take as individuals and a community. Everyone should wear a mask or face covering in line with the University’s COVID-19 Campus Safety Policy.

I and other members of the Covid-19 Campus Activity Level Review Team continue to meet at least twice a week to review health data and public and campus health conditions to advise on changes to the activities permitted under the campus activity levels. Moving to Level 2 is a positive and important milestone, and all members of the Brown community should take pride in doing so.

We look forward to continuing to work together to maintain a safe and healthy campus in the weeks and months ahead.

Sincerely,

Russell C. Carey
Executive Vice President, Planning and Policy