By Anne Levin

The first phase of undergraduates returning to the Princeton University campus is underway. As of Tuesday morning, about 1,140 on-campus residents, sent home last March due to the pandemic, had arrived, completed their first COVID-19 test, and entered the University’s arrival quarantine process.

Of the more than 1,300 tests given to arriving students as of Tuesday morning, six have been positive — a positivity rate of about 0.4 percent, according to Deputy University Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss.

Nearly 3,000 of the more than 5,400 undergraduates enrolled at the University have chosen to move back to campus. In doing so, they had to sign a strict “social contract” outlining expectations for behavior, and participate in a COVID-19 testing program. Students will have their own sleeping spaces.

“Requirements of the social contract include wearing a face covering, maintaining a minimum of 6 feet of physical distance from others indoors and outdoors, and completing a daily symptom check,” Hotchkiss said in an email. “Students remain in strict quarantine — leaving their rooms only to use the restroom — until they receive the results of their first test. If negative, they continue the arrival quarantine protocol that concludes after at least seven days and two additional negative tests. Students who test positive are moved to separate spaces for isolation.”

The return of the students was a key topic at a Zoom meeting of the Princeton Merchants Association last Thursday. The University’s Director of Community and Regional Affairs Kristin Appelget, and Executive Director of Environmental Health and Safety Robin Izzo, reported to the merchants on what was required of the undergraduates. Merchants can expect to see students around town by February 1, which is when classes begin. “They can go into town, but they can’t leave Mercer County or Plainsboro without permission,” said Appelget.

While classes will be held almost exclusively online, all of the undergraduates were invited to move back to campus. “Even though a lot of instruction is virtual, there is still a lot of benefit for students to see each other,” Izzo said. “I’m a parent of a college student. Looking at the experience he’s had, I’ve seen there is so much value to feeling like part of a community in a way you just can’t do virtually, even with all of the virtual events.”

Before making the decision to invite undergraduates back, the University looked at other universities that had allowed students to return to campus. “There was a lot of work we did, benchmarking with other schools that had let students back,” said Izzo. “We worked with faculty who have epidemiology backgrounds, to be able to do modeling on what was feasible. We even redid those models considering the variants that are now out there.”

Not all undergraduate students were fortunate enough to be able to go home when the University went virtual. “For some of our students, Princeton University is the safe place they have to call home,” said Appelget. “We did have some students – less than 200 – who lived on our campus as undergraduates [during the closure], living in the way the students now coming back will live. They might be homeless. Or they might not have good internet access, or their own bedroom at home. So the thought of coming back to Princeton, to be in a dorm room, in the same time zone where classes are being held, where there is a reliable food source – there were some students who were ready to sign up for any social contract.”

The contract is serious. “If you as business owners have any concerns about students who have arrived back, please reach out,” Appelget said. “Phone, email – we will get back to you. If there is something that isn’t appropriate, please let us know. I say that because I mean it.”