The University continues to watch public health conditions while preparing for changes leading up to the fall semester, including further reopening of campus dining halls.

Recent months for the University and Providence at large — entailing vaccine distribution, uncertain public health guidelines and a gradual re-opening of in-person activity — have proven to be a time of change, documented in an outpouring of new COVID-19 policies and plans.

The University has further lifted restrictions on density requirements on campus and on international travel and will make additional changes in housing capacity and campus visitor policy by the fall semester, as the number of community members testing positive for COVID-19 each week remains at a minimum.

The University will begin returning to pre-pandemic campus life after on-campus students and faculty exceeded 90 percent vaccination levels, resuming in-person dining at the Sharpe Refectory and closing access to COVID-19 testing sites for vaccinated individuals this week.

The COVID-19 vaccination rate for students living on campus for the summer reached 90.6 percent last week, Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 wrote in a June 25 Today@Brown announcement.

The University will drop nearly all pandemic-related restrictions by the fall semester or sooner, assuming near-universal vaccination rates on campus, Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA ’06 wrote in a Wednesday email to the University community. 

High school students enrolled in Brown’s Pre-College summer programs began moving into their on-campus dorms this past weekend. They are required to partake in asymptomatic testing, and the University has worked to keep the program’s testing and dining services separate from on-campus University students.

Students in the COVID-19 testing program were asked to consent to new viral sequencing for variants through the Broad Institute, the University’s testing partner, in an email sent to on-campus students June 8. 

The percentage of documented COVID-19 vaccinations increased to 76.8 percent and 69.3 percent, respectively, for students and employees on campus during the week of May 27 to June 2, according to the Healthy Brown COVID-19 Testing Update. 

The total percentage of students who have documented their COVID-19 vaccinations has increased to 40.6 percent, and the total number of employees has increased to 59.7 percent, according to the University’s May 28 COVID-19 Testing Update.