Trumbulletin 3-16-20

March 16, 2020

TrumBulletin for March 16th

I and Dean Chandhoke hope all of you are safe, in a place where you personally are “social distancing,” and are taking good care of yourselves and those close to you.

We have all just gone through (and continue to go through) a situation none of us has experienced before. It is surreal.

We are very impressed with, and grateful to, all our Trumbullians. You have pulled together and responded so very well to the current situation. You have gotten yourselves home from wherever you were, you’ve moved out of the college quickly and, when we have had to turn down many requests to follow guidelines dictated by Yale (and by national) public health policies, you’ve let us know you understand.

Policies and plans continue to evolve. Please check the Yale FAQs often for updates. Please visit Yale’s CoVID site for additional information. I’ll keep in touch with you myself.

Right now. the college is very quiet. All staff and faculty are following social distancing protocols. Dean Chandhoke and I are doing the same.

I want to thank all of you for your resilience and also Dean Chandhoke, Debbie Rueb, Deborah Bellmore, Leah Jehan, Kodi Scott, Dean Chun, Dean Lizarribar and the many others who have provided support.  I thank Mitchell Mares who, while still here and working as a Trumbull Aide at the end of the week, greatly facilitated student access to student rooms to retrieve things while we were still permitted to do that. (We are no longer permitted to do that!) Please understand that we are all pulling together and following the advice we are being given.

Know that many of the concerns and questions you have (e.g. Will online classes work smoothly? Will my things be safe in my room? Will commencement occur? etc.) are widely shared and are understood by the administration.  A task force is actively working on these (and many more) issues. They, and we, will share answers as soon as we have them. Out of necessity, they had to prioritize plans to make sure all could “socially distance” and could get home or to a safe place (and could afford to do so) first before turning to answer these other important questions. I assure you that those working on this have been working round-the-clock. They have also had to quickly adjust to emerging issues.

Do know that your rooms and suites are locked and will remain locked. Your possessions are safe and decisions will be made in time regarding how to get them to you.

We have a fabulous community here in Trumbull. Collectively you’ve shown us that in the last week. Stay in touch. Stay safe. Get rest. Wash your hands (a lot). Don’t touch your face. (I’m still working on that one myself.) Know we care.

And, seniors, I’m so very sorry your final semester at Yale has been curtailed.  Senior week and commencement have always been very special times for us in Trumbull. We don’t know exactly what will happen come May, but we won’t forget about you. Know that we are determined to celebrate with and for you. Just when and how that will happen are unclear, but that we will celebrate you somehow is clear. We’ll figure it out.

We miss all of you. We know that some of you are “socially distancing” largely alone and we will keep in even closer touch with you. That can be very hard! If this is true for you and you suspect we don’t know, please do let me (and Dean Chandhoke) know.

Warmly, 
Head Clark