Bates Community -
Thank you for your continued dedication to the shelter-in-place order. It is challenging and frustrating to navigate these days, and the uncertainty of the situation.
I want to express my gratitude to the community and acknowledge the toll that the duration of a horrible situation can take on our emotional wellbeing. The waiting wears us down. Bates is a community of doers, individuals whose achievements contribute to a greater common good. Our instincts -- the characteristics that define us as the Bates community -- are to step forward and take action. But we are being asked to do just the opposite. It's hard. But it is what Bates and the greater Maine community needs us to do right now.
In the days ahead, when the shelter-in-place is lifted we may have a need for extra hands, and I’ve been buoyed by the offers to help. To that end, we have a Volunteer Form to aggregate names and availability. We do not know when we will be able to ask people to come to campus, and we’ll need to find the intersection of people, tasks, and timing. The form will facilitate the first part but if we stay in lockdown we’ll need to wait for the opportunity. Many thanks to the Student Affairs team who created and will monitor this form - Faith Hauger, Nora Molloy, Molly Newton, and Jimmy Riley.
The home field hockey and football games scheduled for Saturday, October 28 have been postponed. Further information regarding the rescheduled dates and times for both contests will be released by the NESCAC office later today, and this information will be available on the Athletics website once it is available.
We continue to emphasize the resources available to students and employees. Students who need support should reach out to Counseling and Psychological Services, the Multifaith Chaplaincy, and/or their Student Support Advisor. For employees, the Employee Assistance Program is available by calling 1-888-238-6232 at any time. You can also find additional critical incident resources on the HR Homepage.
I will send another update around 4 p.m. today with whatever additional information we have at that time. If the shelter-in-place order is lifted we will update the campus as quickly as possible.
Be safe,
Geoff