After six weeks of in-person classes, while maintaining a healthy campus, Headmaster Zack Lehman announced an upgrade of the Campus Wellness Level to Charlie II starting on Oct. 6 with several enhancements to campus life alongside some updated campus guidelines. 

The restrictions lifted with the implementation of Charlie II have an impact on student life and outdoor athletic activities. In the dorms, common room capacity will increase by one or two people with masks on, even within flocks, and bathroom access will now expand to include flocks. A flock is a designated small group of students in the same dorm who can interact without masks while in their rooms.

For student-athletes, teams may begin drills and scrimmage in predetermined flocks without physical distancing with direct contact still under restriction. In addition, outdoor capacity with fixed seating will now increase to 60 people under adult supervision and physical distancing while the capacity without fixed seating will also rise to 35 people. 

Facilities such as Ryan Library will begin to be open to students during study hall and Grille will soon open for take-away and email pre-orders on specific weekdays. Lastly, day students will have increased access to activities and athletic facilities on weekends. 

According to Iha Chikkala ’21, “I think one thing that’s interesting with Charlie II is the opening of the library because I feel like there is a lot of social life in the library going on and a lot of people use that time not to just study but to talk to people of other dorms and their friends they wouldn’t come across in a normal academic day. I think it will be interesting to see how people take that and how they’re going to interact now the library is open.” 

According to Derek Schmaeling ’21, “I can’t wait for the Grille to be opened because it is a great social area for me and my friends. Also, the Grille adds a level of autonomy where I don’t have to go to the dining hall every morning. Not having to go to the dining hall and being able to go straight to the grille makes my day a lot easier sometimes.”

While the lifted restrictions do sound exciting to students, there are also some changes in the previous guidelines. Eating or drinking while walking is prohibited anywhere on campus due to previous failures to properly social distance and will result in a demerit. Students returning from weekend home leaves will be required to complete a COVID-19 test upon arrival and limit community exposure until the completion of a second test. 

In terms of the consequences of violating the guidelines, students who jeopardize community health will lose privileges for themselves and their flocks, and will also face disciplinary charges and forced remote status. Opening Conditions may be reinstated if repeated violations of guidelines, an overall drop in safeguarding compliance, a marked increase in symptomatic students, or worsening local conditions are observed. 

Max Qiao ’21 said, “I do think that the use of collateral punishment will be effective in preventing people from making the mistake; however, it will also be kind of unfair to be responsible for something that you didn’t do.”