Dear students,

I’m writing to welcome all Marist students back to campus, but also to strongly urge you to abide by all of the rules and regulations we’ve put in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus.  We heard from both students and their families that they wanted the College to provide its normal high-quality, campus-based education, and our faculty and staff have worked very hard to make that happen.  As I’m sure you’ve read, many colleges across the country that had planned to open have now been forced to close and go online because of the reckless and selfish behavior of their students.  Whether Marist is able to stay open is now in your hands.

I would like to emphasize how strictly we’ll be enforcing our policies and the serious disciplinary consequences students will face if they don’t abide by them, including suspension and dismissal from the College.  We have already suspended 15 Marist students for not following our guidelines at an off-campus party, and if this trend continues, we’ll have no choice but to completely close the campus and require students to finish the semester online.  None of us wants this outcome to occur, so please help us to ensure it doesn’t happen.

Ultimately, I hope that what motivates you to comply with our health and safety rules isn’t the threat of punishment, but rather your respect for others and concern for the common good.  Please don’t be a knucklehead who disregards the safety of others and puts our ability to remain on campus at risk.

Thank you for your cooperation, and let’s all have a good fall semester.

Dennis

Dennis J. Murray
President
Marist College
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
(845) 575-3600
President@marist.edu