On Monday, Aug. 30, Catholic University students returned to campus for the official start of the Fall 2021 semester. Although “normal” is hard to define these days, a lot of campus life has returned to pre-pandemic operations and the University is as open as possible.
Students will attend classes in person throughout the fall semester. Residence halls opened to welcome new and returning students with double occupancy rooms. More student and campus events will take place on campus. Student-athletes will get back to training, practicing, and competing. The campus shuttle is up and running again. And food service is resuming operations.
All of these activities create a vibrant campus experience for students, faculty, and staff. In order to maintain this vibrancy, the campus community will need to make a commitment to keep each other safe. In an Aug. 19 letter to the community, President John Garvey wrote:
I want to emphasize to every person in this community: our ability to open this fall and remain open depends on our shared commitment to keep Catholic University safe and healthy. For this reason we have drafted a set of Shared Community Responsibilities that we expect every person on campus to follow, regardless of vaccination status.
“It’s so exciting to have the full move-in experience back on campus,” said Amy Love, assistant dean of students, while she was out with Orientation Advisors on the morning of Aug. 30 greeting first-year students and their families as they arrived on campus. “Things are starting to return to normal, but with an awareness that we are all in this together. Our community members, particularly our student leaders, are mindful that we have been through a stressful time. We will all be looking out for one another, checking in with each other even more.”
For more information about the University’s plan for Fall 2021, visit our Keep Catholic Safe website.
The Class of 2025 arrived on campus for Orientation last week. Current students offered advice and welcomed the incoming class.