Thank you for doing your part
Earlier today, I was pleased to hear Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health report that he feels the re-opening of university and college campuses across the province is going well.
Dr. Robert Strang and many other officials in our government have worked hard in partnership with universities to put plans in place to welcome students safely. About 3,200 students have entered the province from outside Atlantic Canada. For the most part, they are doing or have completed their 14 days of self-isolation and COVID-19 tests. Compliance with digital check-in has been very good.
I want to thank our students for cooperating with these important public health measures and keeping our community as safe as possible. I know these early days of the fall term have presented challenges and obstacles, but your efforts have not gone unnoticed.
I am thankful to the broader Wolfville community for its hospitality, support, and encouragement, as our students find their footing in an entirely new reality. Together, the university and the town have taken a broad responsibility for each other as a true Maritime community. As our time together unfolds in the coming days and weeks, our continued respect and care for one another will help see us through this time of worry and anxiety.
There have been very few cases where students have intentionally violated the rules, and for the small minority who aren’t doing what they’re supposed to, I ask you to please think about the potential impact of your actions on your friends and neighbours, your fellow students and university, and the community where you now live.
As the fall term gets underway at post-secondary institutions across our province, it is important that all of us – faculty, staff, students who we are welcoming into our communities, as well as permanent residents and community members – continue to practice the required health directives and personal protective measures.
A good reminder
This afternoon, Nova Scotia RCMP advised the public that four post-secondary students were each fined $1,000 for violating the Health Protection Act (HPA) over the Labour Day weekend. Three individuals were in Antigonish, and one was in Wolfville. This is a stark warning to all those who might think that breaking the rules is without consequences.
Acadia works closely with the RCMP. I am grateful for their partnership in enforcing public health directives. While we are uncertain at this time if the student charged in Wolfville is a student at Acadia or elsewhere, the charges laid offer an ideal opportunity to remind our campus community that any student who breaches the public health or university health and safety protocols is subject to charges by the RCMP or a campus disciplinary process.
This September, Acadia has approximately 500 students, split evenly between those living on-campus and off-campus, in various stages of isolation in order to attend classes, which begin on September 21. It is essential that all students comply with the public health orders and the university regulations for self-isolation, physical distancing, wearing masks, and attention of cleanliness.
We need to work together now, so we can re-open our campus safely.
