Dear Families,
I'm sure you're all hearing, as we are, that your students are relieved to have finished fall term. Wherever they will be for the winter break, we hope they're able to get some much deserved rest.
The last few weeks of our ten week terms are always intense. Given the shelter-in-place order the night of November 1st, this November was clearly much more so. While many students took advantage of campus support resources after that weekend, we know from our Counseling staff that the healing process from a traumatic event is not linear, and that each person's response will be unique and specific to their own experiences. If your student needs support over the break, our counselors will continue to be available for students who remain on campus, and for those who need assistance identifying support resources in their home communities.
As with any community that experiences random acts of violence, we are actively engaged in a campus after-incident review process. We are working on improvements to our third-party contracted DartAlert emergency communications system with the vendor. We are also identifying additional training opportunities. We will keep you and the campus community apprised as we move forward.
In the meantime, please encourage your student to be sure that your contact information is accurate and up to date in the BannerStudent information system. Students can go in to BannerStudent at any time to update email addresses and phone numbers for family members. In addition, the automated DartAlert emergency notification system allows students, faculty and staff to include up to three contact numbers or email addresses in the notification field. Your student can follow this link to add your number to the automated system: https://www.getrave.com/login/dartmouth. Finally, in the event of a campus emergency in the future, please be sure to monitor the Dartmouth home page and social media channels for updates. The home page and those channels will provide accurate and updated information as it becomes available.
With best wishes for the upcoming holiday season-
Kathryn J. Lively
Interim Dean of the College
House Professor for South House
Professor of Sociology