“How should we live together?” has a whole new meaning during CoVid. Each one of us is expected to help ensure the healthy and safety of our community through our everyday actions. If you witness someone not following the guidelines and recognize that this is a potential problem, take personal responsibility and intervene using the 3 Ds.  Direct is truly the best way so at Ursinus we have elaborated on the Direct approach to provide more specific options - the 4 Rs!

Remind: Most students are trying to follow the rules and keep everyone else safe but sometimes we forget. The first direct approach should be to remind someone and give them the benefit of the doubt.

“Don’t forget to wear your mask when you stop by later.”

“I know you care about me and our whole community, so remember to keep our distance.”

Request: Ask the person to follow the guidelines directly by being polite and clear about why it is important to do so.

“Can you please wear your mask? It’ll make me feel better.” 

“I’m not comfortable hugging due to CoVid, let’s keep our distance, thanks.”

Retrieve: Depending on the situation, retrieve something they need in order to help follow the guidelines. This could be getting them an extra mask from Campus Safety or showing them the guidelines document so they can review the guidelines themselves.

“Here, I got your an extra mask from campus safety.”

“Check out the guidelines in this email we got from Dean Bryant. It says we should not have this many people in our room.”

Report: If someone continues to blatantly disregard the guidelines even after being reminding and after being requested to change their behavior - it is completely appropriate to report them to a professional. Just like with other behaviors, you can report to your RA or Campus Safety anytime.