We’re writing to update you on health and safety measures now in place on our Pleasantville Campus.
Earlier this week, four student athletes in Pleasantville received positive COVID-19 test results. We promptly suspended all Pace Athletics activity and made plans to test all student athletes. That testing identified another 16 positive cases. The affected students have been isolated, and contact tracing is underway.
As required by law, we informed the Westchester County Department of Health of these cases. Because 18 of our 20 positive cases are students living in Alumni Hall, the county is requiring a 14-day quarantine for all students who live in Alumni Hall. Any Alumni Hall students who have left the residence hall will be required to self-quarantine at home for at least 14 days.
While this news is obviously unwelcome, we were prepared for it. We are proud of the students who responsibly reported their symptoms and got tested, and we’re pleased that the systems in place worked to help us confront this so quickly. At the county’s direction, we began the quarantine of Alumni Hall students last night, and we thank those students for their understanding and cooperation in following the guidelines. Students are receiving meals to their rooms, and residence hall staff is on hand to support them. Faculty are also working to accommodate the remote learning needs of all Alumni Hall students. We’re keeping in regular communication with the students under quarantine.
Because of these positive cases, we have raised the alert level on our COVID-19 Dashboard for the Pleasantville Campus, which may indicate more frequent testing of some groups of students. To see the latest on-campus data and learn more about what the alert levels mean for you, visit www.pace.edu/dashboard. Our dashboard is updated every day around 5:00 p.m.
We are taking action. Contact tracing of those positive cases is continuing. If you’ve had potential direct contact with a positive case, you will get a phone call from a contact tracer.
Our ongoing community monitoring efforts will also continue. Each week a random sample of 25 percent of those who have been on campus—including students, faculty, and staff—is selected for testing. Those selected for testing next week will receive emailed notifications today. This is a separate testing effort, and it does not in any way suggest you’re connected to the Alumni Hall cases.
Thank you to all of our students, staff, and faculty for your commitment to our community. Remember to stay safe—wear your face covering, maintain social distance, wash your hands. We will continue to update you as we have more information.
