Testing delays prompt one-day quarantine extension
Delays in COVID-19 test results have meant that students who expected to complete their eight-day arrival quarantine on Sunday afternoon will have to hunker down until at least Monday.
Delays in COVID-19 test results have meant that students who expected to complete their eight-day arrival quarantine on Sunday afternoon will have to hunker down until at least Monday.
Although the Upper Valley was able to sustain a lower number of COVID-19 cases than other parts of the country throughout much of the pandemic, the region has seen an uptick in cases since the fall, following national trends.
As the eight-day quarantine period for students arriving on campus comes to an end, students will soon be able to access several campus dining locations. Though many of the same dining restrictions from fall term will still apply, Dartmouth Dining will offer a variety of new options, including a halal station and a late night meal service at the Class of 1953 Commons, and may soon be able to accommodate students indoors.
One day after the inauguration of President Joe Biden and two weeks after an insurrectionist mob stormed the Capitol, the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy hosted an online panel of political science experts for a wide-ranging discussion titled "Did the System Work? The Fragile State of American Institutions."
A team of Dartmouth engineering students won the award for best technical paper in NASA’s Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing Idea Challenge, or “BIG Idea Challenge.” Their winning idea proposed lunar space exploration robots that can connect with other rovers when stuck on rough terrain.
To the delight of many students in Hanover, 4U Bubble Tea on Main Street opened for business on Jan. 16.
Students hoping to ski their way to a physical education credit this term will have to pack up their poles until next year. Though the spring and summer terms offered virtual PE classes for students, fall and winter feature no such options. Even snowsports lessons, a hallmark of Dartmouth’s PE program, will not count for PE credit this winter.
The storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 by a mob attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election shocked the world, led to the deaths of five people and threatened the safety of legislators, staff, reporters and Capitol security personnel. Kuster spoke with The Dartmouth on Jan. 15 about her experience during the attack, why she voted to impeach Trump a second time and what she sees as the lasting ramifications of these events.
This week, potential new Greek house members will navigate the College’s first-ever virtual rush. Despite the virtual format, sorority rush will have nearly 400 participants, while fraternity rush, which adopted a formal registration process this year, will see over 300 potential new members.
While COVID-19 vaccination has begun in the Upper Valley, most college students in New Hampshire may not be vaccinated until May and beyond due to supply shortages and distribution challenges, according to the state’s vaccine plan.
COVID-19 has posed challenges for Dartmouth professors with young children, many of whom have been asked to balance working from home and caring for their families.
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar ’88 will leave office on Wednesday to be replaced by California attorney general and President-elect Joe Biden’s appointee Xavier Becerra, pending confirmation by the Senate. Azar — whose resignation is effective at noon on Jan. 20 — leaves office as COVID-19 cases continue to hover at record highs nationwide. His response to the coronavirus pandemic has been widely criticized by health professionals and news outlets.
During Dartmouth’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, the theme of “Hope and Action” shone through a variety of virtual events. This year's programming, which includes lectures, discussions and films, began on Saturday and will run through the end of January.
Effective March 18, the College will prohibit smoking and the use of other tobacco products, including vaping products, on all Dartmouth properties. The policy will apply to all Dartmouth community members and visitors on campus in both indoor and outdoor areas.
Once most students complete their quarantine on Jan. 26, the College plans to open a number of outdoor activities and opportunities for socializing as part of its “winter wonderland” programming.
As Dartmouth kicks off winter term virtually, some colleges have made adjustments to their own winter term plans amid a rise in nationwide COVID-19 case counts. Multiple institutions have announced changes to their academic planning, including eliminating spring breaks and altering the start dates of spring semester.
Despite some initial delays over the holidays, all students arriving on campus this weekend will have been cleared through the College’s pre-arrival COVID-19 testing program.
Despite staffing and pandemic-related challenges, the Campus Climate and Culture Initiative — which the College launched in early 2019 to assess the educational and work environments of its departments and revise sexual misconduct policies — is proceeding with its current initiatives.
Though the pandemic marches on, Dartmouth has moved forward with multiple construction projects, including the completion of renovations to Reed Hall and Baker-Berry Library, the start of renovations on Dartmouth Hall and the continued construction of the new Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society.
Dartmouth students in search of mental health support now have the chance to talk with therapists via virtual counseling sessions, thanks to a collaboration between the student-run mental health app Unmasked and teletherapy platform Uwill. Announced in December, this partnership has enabled students to access Uwill’s large network of therapists after registering via Unmasked.