University President Fr. John Jenkins urged Notre Dame students, faculty and staff to follow new safety protocols to ensure the completion of the semester in an email Wednesday.
All community members must wear a mask, practice physical distancing, wash their hands frequently and complete the daily health check in order to ensure safety for all community members upon return to campus.
“The special character of the current challenge is that success does not depend on the actions of a single individual nor on each person’s commitment simply to take care of his or her own health,” Jenkins said.
Three faculty members have been developing a model to determine the spread of COVID-19 under different scenarios. According to the model, “the difference between only 60% of us wearing masks as required compared to 90% or more doing so could be the difference between our having to shut down campus again or having a successful, safe semester here,” Jenkins said.
As the health of community members relies on compliance to the safety practices, student violation of the standards will be considered a disciplinary matter with the possibility of expulsion from campus. Faculty and staff who fail to comply may face serious sanctions including dismissal.
“We have the chance to show the world how to continue the work of the University in the midst of the threat of this terrible virus,” Jenkins said. “Success depends on the choices we make individually and collectively.”
