January 13, 2021
Iowa State University Sorority and Fraternity Members,
It is hard to believe that 2021 is here. We made it through the fall semester and all of 2020—congratulations! Due to the diligence, determination, and grit of our community and the entire Iowa State population, we are coming back to campus this spring. We know it wasn’t easy, but we are stronger because of the obstacles we faced and the choices we made along the way.
While we all hoped that a new year would bring positive changes with the COVID-19 pandemic, we aren’t out of the weeds just yet. Data tells us that the number of positive cases in the U.S. continues to climb during the winter months and college campuses are not exempt. Even with the release of the COVID-19 vaccine administered to our health care professionals starting back in December, many of us will not get the vaccine for many months. We are optimistic that with our continued actions, we will get back to a version of normal in the fall.
For now, we need our campus leaders—including all of you—to set an example by stepping up and doing the best thing to help reduce COVID-19 on our campus. Follow the Cyclones Care practices and get a free COVID-19 test.
We know many members have already returned to Ames or are planning to return in the next few days. Complete the pretest questionnaire and schedule your appointment at Johnny’s inside Hilton Coliseum by January 29 online here (preferred) or call 515-294-5801 and press option 9. It takes less than 20 minutes!
Many of you may be thinking, “I don’t have any symptoms!” Or “I wasn’t exposed over winter break!” The truth is, the more asymptomatic people test, the better we can pinpoint when and where positive cases are occurring. This helps us target mitigation strategies in unique ways to help reduce the spread and drive down cases within our community. As Coach Campbell says…trust the process.
In addition, several sorority and fraternity members will be receiving an invitation directly to participate in a statistically-designed risk-based sample testing as announced in a campus-wide message. If you receive the text and email to participate, we urge you to follow the prompts in this message to complete your test by January 29 at Johnny’s.
Again, we encourage all members to sign up and get a COVID-19 test by January 29. As sorority and fraternity members, we vowed to be better than the average student. Let’s show the entire ISU community the true leaders that we are and help our public health officials make data-driven decisions and changes based on test results.
Welcome back and please contact Sorority and Fraternity Engagement staff ([email protected]) with questions.
Billy Boulden
Assistant Dean of Students for Development and Student Leadership
Director of Sorority and Fraternity Engagement
P.S. The next ISU Town Hall is scheduled for Friday, January 15 at 2 p.m. CST. You are welcome to join in to learn more about the university's testing and vaccination strategies designed to help preserve our "Cyclone experience" and keep us healthy. The recording will also be available here.
