Dear Marietta College Community,

As we complete our first full week back on campus, I want to thank everyone for their cooperation as we have navigated snow, ice, and, of course, COVID-19. At the start of the pandemic, we promised that the College would keep up to date with and follow the latest guidance from the CDC, which is the purpose of this message.

The most recent guidance is that an individual is considered fully vaccinated when they receive one of the approved COVID-19 booster shots (which results in immediate “vaccinated” status), have received the second Moderna/Pfizer shot less than six months ago or received the single J&J vaccine less than two months ago.

Though our goal was to be mask optional this semester, that is not feasible at this time as we try to manage the highly contagious omicron variant and improve our overall vaccination rate following the CDC’s change to what constitutes fully vaccinated.

It is still our belief that everyone who can get vaccinated should get a vaccine shot, and everyone who is eligible to receive a booster shot does so as soon as possible. Our goal is to help protect the health and well-being of our campus community, and we believe following the CDC’s guideline of everyone being fully vaccinated is the best way to do it.

We strongly encourage all students and employees to share their vaccination status — including boosters — with the Center for Health & Wellness (students) at healthandwellness@marietta.edu and Vicki Ford in HR (employees) at fordv@marietta.edu. This information is confidential and allows the medical staff and HR to quickly and efficiently respond when there is a possible exposure or a confirmed case on campus.

It comes as no surprise that we are experiencing a spike in positive COVID cases, but it is well within a safe range to continue normal operations. As of yesterday, the College has recorded 60 positive cases — 34 active cases and 14 close contacts in quarantine. While we are no longer sending out emails when positive cases are recorded, we continue to update the COVID-19 Dashboard at www.marietta.edu/covid-19-cases-reporting daily.

Thank you for everyone’s cooperation and support.

Bring Forth a Pioneer!

Bill Ruud
President and Professor of Management