The semester is underway and students have been very limited in how they have been able to live on campus. Dining has been take-out only and there was an inter-residence hall visitation ban, but that has now changed.

In an email sent around 11 p.m. on Feb. 11, Vice President of Student Life John King announced new guidelines.

Upper Commons is now open for in-person dining, but students must stay in pods of four or less. The School of Law Bistro will continue to offer take-out only for undergraduate students and will be open for in-person dining for School of Law students. Commuter students will be able to eat at the Hawk’s Nest in the Recreation Center as well as the commuter lounge in Stonewall 4.

Students from different residence halls are now able to visit each other as the inter-residence hall visitation ban has been lifted. Room capacity guidelines are the same as last semester and off-campus students are still banned from visiting residence halls. The state of Rhode Island has changed social gathering rules from one household only to two households for indoor gatherings and three households for outdoor gatherings.

Student Programs, Leadership and Orientation will begin a phased return to in-person meetings for clubs and organizations starting Feb 13.

“Thanks for all your efforts! You are attending college during extraordinarily challenging times and your spirit, resilience and care for each other is remarkable and inspiring,” King said in the email.  “The next four to six weeks will be critical weeks for practicing prevention and controlling the spread of the virus. Better weather, longer days, and the potential for a great spring are within reach!”