Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff Members, 

We hope you’re well. We’re writing with brief updates on policies and procedures related to COVID-19.

Campus Vaccination Rates and Testing

Nearly 99% of employees working on campus are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Fewer than 10 employees (0.8%) have been approved for medical or religious exemptions.

More than 96% of our students are fully vaccinated, and that number is on track to increase to more than 99% by mid-October; fewer than 15 students (0.5%) have been approved for medical or religious exemptions.

Last week, we conducted 875 student tests, which led to three positive results. We also conducted 474 employee tests last week with one positive result. You can view weekly results on our COVID-19 Test Results page.

Employees who have questions or need help conducting their tests can visit the Faculty and Staff COVID-19 Testing Information page, which has detailed information and a link to a video that shows you how to perform the test. We will also continue to have volunteers at Upper Tarble in Clothier Hall this week from Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Campus Visitors

We want to clarify our policy around visitors to campus. All visitors who are 12 and older are required to either be fully vaccinated or have a valid, negative PCR or rapid COVID-19 test result within 72 hours of visiting campus. While we do not intend to collect this information, visitors may be asked to show proof of either their vaccination status or a negative test result while on campus. We will work with individuals who are primarily responsible for bringing visitors to campus, such as colleagues in Admissions, Athletics, Events Management, the Office of Student Engagement, and Performing Arts, to establish protocols for validating guests’ vaccination status at specific events.

Vendors/volunteers (i.e., individuals rendering some service to help the College carry out its day-to-day operations) should continue to follow the vendor policy that's been in place for several weeks. Please visit the COVID-19 visitors and vendors page for more information. 

Large Gatherings

We have updated our guidance on large gatherings, which we’ve included below and can also be found on the COVID-19 site. Please be sure to review these guidelines closely. Please note that these are for activities outside of academic classes, which don’t present the same circumstances and potential questions around health and safety as some other events, such as serving food, having outside guests, etc.

As always, if you have questions about our COVID-19 protocols, you can visit the COVID-19 information site or email covid19@swarthmore.edu. 

Thank you,

The COVID-19 Planning Group