In an email to the campus community on September 17, President Clayton Rose announced a range of changes to upcoming activities and events and a continuation of the indoor mask mandate in light of the recent outbreak of COVID-19 cases on campus and continued concerns related to the Delta variant.

“For now, the Delta variant remains concerning, both because it is highly contagious and because it moves very quickly. That said, to date, we have seen no cases of COVID-19 transmission outside student residences—none in our classrooms, labs, or the library; none in athletics or during other activities; and none in our dining facilities,” Rose wrote in an email to the student body.

As the only indoor fall sport, home volleyball games will be limited to 40 percent of normal capacity, and spectators will be required to demonstrate proof of vaccination through the CLEAR app.

All meetings of the Alumni Council, Alumni Fund Directors and BRAVO National Advisory Board—scheduled to take place Thursday through Saturday—will be virtual. In addition, all “Leaders in All Walks of Life: 50 Years of Women at Bowdoin” events will be entirely virtual this weekend.

Homecoming weekend will be held in person, though with a reduced schedule. All attendees will be required to demonstrate proof of vaccination and are asked to test for COVID-19 before traveling to campus. In addition, all events will be held outside. Family weekend, similarly, will take place as usual but with reduced activities, and masks will be required at all indoor events. Capacity will be limited at both the President’s Summer Research Symposium and Sarah and James Bowdoin Day.

Fall vacation will take place as scheduled, though students are advised to take precautions while traveling and follow Bowdoin protocols such as masking in indoor public spaces.

“Our experience—and the data more generally—show that the vaccination/mask combination provides powerful protection, and that’s why we will continue to require proof of vaccination for campus visitors and why we are likely to keep our indoor mask mandate in place until the end of the semester,” Rose wrote.