Marist Returns to Green After Six Weeks

After six weeks, the campus returned to Alert Level Green on Tuesday. The active number of COVID-19 cases dropped to 16, and the college announced that restrictions could loosen with this progress.

 “If our COVID-19 numbers continue to remain low we are considering lifting additional restrictions to on-campus activities by the end of the week,” Vice President for Student Affairs Deborah DiCaprio said. Activities under consideration include indoor intramural activities, outdoor basketball, increased fitness center capacity, in-person fitness classes and visits to other residence halls for students living on campus.

“The most important step each individual can take to facilitate our campus reopening is getting vaccinated—and will be critical to end of semester activities such as commencement exercises,” DiCaprio said. “Vaccination prevents serious illness and death and protects those in vulnerable populations. It is also our best chance to eliminate the virus from our community by achieving herd immunity. There are many websites you can use to register for vaccine appointments.”

Other on-campus activities started again on April 23. Varsity athletic teams were permitted to return to practice and competitions on a case-by-case basis. For all students, the McCormick Hall Fitness Center opened at 25 percent capacity in addition to the reopening of the McCann Fitness Center. The First Floor Team Weight Room and McCann Pool opened with capacity limitations.

For the first time this semester, Marist re-launched its in-person, small group practices and rehearsals in the Music Department. Student singers will be permitted to rehearse outdoors with the use of social distancing and special masks. Band members will be permitted to have rehearsals outside with the use of belle covers and bags for instruments. 

“Continue to practice social distancing, good personal hygiene and wear masks at all times,” DiCaprio said. “Double mask, as this is known to offer increased protection for the mask wearers and others. To double mask, wear a multilayered cloth mask over a surgical mask. Protect your roommates, team members, and loved ones by minimizing contact with others outside of your living situation.” 

Marist is encouraging students to get vaccinated if they haven’t already and has held four vaccination clinics for students. If students were not vaccinated through a Marist clinic, they must upload their vaccination record of the first and second dose to marist.medicatconnect.com. 

“We will continue to be cautious about proceeding with our planned resumption of activities and, as always, will use data to make informed decisions,” DiCaprio said. “Uploading your data will provide Marist with an accurate count of fully vaccinated students and allow us to make additional data-informed decisions moving forward. Thank you again for your continued commitment to keeping our community safe.”

Additional On-Campus Activities Resume at Marist After a drop in Active COVID-19 Cases. Source: Greta Stuckey ‘23