Departure from Campus Update, Boxes, and Dining

Dear Students,

Following President Ambar’s announcement about the revised schedule for the end of classes and departure from campus, I am writing with additional information about housing, dining, and departure from campus.  Thank you for your continued patience and support of each other as we all adjust to these rapidly changing circumstances – you are already demonstrating the strength and resilience of our community.  The Division of Student Life looks forward to contacting you about opportunities for remote co-curricular engagement once everyone is safely settled off campus.

If you have any questions, please contact health.info@oberlin.edu or call 440-775-8462.

Sincerely,

Meredith Raimondo
Vice President and Dean of Students

Departure from Campus

Unless you receive an email approving your petition to remain on campus due to extraordinary circumstances, you must leave your campus housing by noon on March 16.  Campus facilities will also close at noon.  Students who submit a petition to remain on campus by Friday March 14 at 5 pm will be notified no later than Saturday March 15 at 10 am.  We will make every effort to notify you earlier if you completed a petition – thank you for your patience as we review them.

Box Pickup and Packing

Students may pick up cardboard packing boxes in the Root Room (Carnegie Hall) on Friday, March 13 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, March 14 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, March 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Each student will be provided with two boxes; if you need more, please return to the Root Room to request them.

• If you are able to take all of your belongings with you when you depart campus, we strongly encourage you to do so.  We recognize that not everyone will be able to move out completely.  Do not leave any valuable items in your campus housing.

• Pack as many of your personal items into the provided boxes as you can. If you run out of space in your boxes, you may keep items in closets and drawers.  All surfaces should be left clear.

• Please label the boxes with your full names.

• Boxes may be moved from your rooms temporarily as part of the cleaning process, but will be returned before you come back to campus.

• You do not have to pack refrigerators, TV, and other oversized items into boxes.

• Please leave your room tidy.

• Please do not leave any animals in your campus residence.

Dining Information

Tonight’s dinner (Thursday, March 12) will be served at the following locations. No eating will be permitted in the dining halls – please plan to use a provided to-go container to take your meal to a place where you can practice social distancing.

• Lord/Saunders and Wilder/DeCafe will operate during the usual hours. 
• Stevenson will operate with the following changes:
  • You may enter through both Biggs and Longman entrances.  Please make sure to leave space between you and other people as you get your meal in order to minimize the risk of disease transmission.
  • Please go through the beverage pods on your way into the servery to choose a beverage for take-away.
  • Make your way to pick-up stations in both Biggs/Longman and choose from the available to-go boxes.  Meals will be clearly labeled according to ingredients to support your dietary needs.
  • Depart down the stairs and exit the building.
• An adjusted 4th meal menu will be offered in the same fashion in Stevenson from 8 – 10 p.m.

Beginning Friday, March 13, Stevenson will serve meals during regular hours in the manner described above. DeCafe, Azariah’s, and SkyBar will operate as scheduled until March 15 at noon or until inventory runs out.

Transportation

Shuttle services to Cleveland Hopkins airport will be run every hour on the hour from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning March 13.  Services will also be available on March 14 and 15 from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m.  On March 16 services will be available from 4 a.m. - noon. Contact Airport Oberlin Shuttle for questions. Shuttles depart from Wilder Hall drive off Lorain St. Charter buses to New York and Chicago will be moved to March 14 and 15 (you will be contacted separately).

Extraordinary Issues and Departure

It is vital to our efforts to contribute to slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Ohio that students depart by Monday March 16 at noon. We recognize that a few of you who made arrangements to leave by March 21 may face extraordinary challenges in changing your plans so you can leave by March 16. If you have travel challenges you do not know how to resolve, please report them at this link by March 13 by 5 pm. We will seek to assist you in resolving these challenges to expedite your departure.