TOLEDO, Ohio — Interim President Gregory Postel sent a letter to UToledo students and campus community on Friday after it was learned large social gatherings and off-campus events without COVID-19 safety precautions have occurred, leading him to tell students who attended to quarantine for 14 days.
The letter, which comes just five days after the start of the semester, told students "your actions have consequences that impact you and all of those around you. This behavior simply cannot continue."
The university has already experienced some cases of COVID-19 on campus and is asking anyone who attended large social gatherings and off-campus events to follow a 14-day quarantine, Postel said.
The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department said as of Monday, there are 45 confirmed positive cases at UT, with 11 students self-reporting their positive results. The self-reported cases would be from out of state, and the health department does not have their labs.
The gatherings included multiple student-athletes and Athletics Director Mike O'Brien also sent out a notice that reminds student-athletes of the pledge they signed to follow COVID-19 prevention measures.
"We have the expectation that our student-athletes will use good judgment with respect to COVID-19 prevention measure, and that they will abide by the Student Safety Commitment and Student-Athlete COVID-19 pledge forms that they all signed before returning to campus. Student-athletes who violate the terms of these commitments will be held accountable," O'Brien's letter said.
FULL TEXT OF INTERIM PRESIDENT GREGORY POSTEL'S LETTER
Thank you for doing your part for a safe start to fall semester. As I’ve walked around campus, I’ve been pleased to see you in your face masks — many with awesome Rocket pride — and social distancing with friends and colleagues. It is important that we practice those same prevention measures when we are off campus, too.
We know our students want to be on campus living and working alongside their faculty and mentors and we want to provide an exceptional educational experience that includes on-campus instruction and activities. To stay on campus, we need all of us working together.
Your University is doing its part addressing the things that are within our control. We implemented this week surveillance testing to measure the extent of the virus in our community and we’ve enhanced cleaning practices to regularly disinfect and sanitize surfaces as an extra layer of defense.
We need you — our students, faculty and staff — to do your part.
We’ve seen colleges and universities across the country change their plans and move to remote learning because of behaviors that led to increased infection rates on their campuses.
If we stay vigilant in following our Rocket Prevention Principles, we can maintain a safe campus environment to live, learn and work. The CDC advises that COVID-19 is spread mainly through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks, and that this occurs when people are in close contact. So wearing masks, social distancing, limiting the size of gatherings and frequent hand washing remain our best line of defense against the spread of the virus.
Following these guidelines isn’t just a personal choice — it’s what keeps UToledo open. We are aware of large social gatherings and off-campus events that some of our UToledo campus community have hosted and attended. If you were involved in these activities, you should not be on campus putting everyone else at risk. We have already experienced some cases of COVID-19 on our campus and everyone at these events should be following the 14-day quarantine to keep your friends and colleagues safe and healthy. If you have symptoms, call 419.383.4545 for an appointment to get tested.
Your actions have consequences that impact you and all of those around you. This behavior simply cannot continue. We will hold students accountable to the safety commitment they signed and will enforce these principles among our employees.
We need your help to keep campus safe and open now and throughout fall semester. Thank you for doing your part.
Go Rockets!
Gregory Postel, M.D.
Interim President