Around The Block-Campus News

Gather in Community for 60th Annual Festival of Lessons and Carols

This Advent service of scripture, carols, and choral pieces is modeled on the original service at Kings College, Cambridge, weaving in the expansive diversity of global Christianity. This year there will be pieces from CC Mariachi Tigre, the CC Choir, and others from the CC community. The wider Colorado Springs community and beyond can register to join us virtually for this annual Advent celebration.

Protect Yourself Against Flu and COVID-19

Over the last week, the Student Health Center has confirmed multiple cases of the flu. You can receive both the COVID-19 booster shot and flu vaccine at this Saturday’s booster clinic. Although walk-ins will be accommodated, you’re encouraged to make an appointment for Saturday, Dec. 11, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

If you only need a flu vaccine, call the Student Health Center, (719) 389-6384, to schedule that stand-alone vaccination. The Student Health Center is experiencing a high volume of calls; please be patient and leave a message so a staff member can call you back.

Basic mitigation strategies like wearing masks, washing hands frequently, and social distancing protect the campus community from BOTH flu and COVID-19. If you are feeling COVID or flu-like symptoms, stay home and contact a medical provider who can determine appropriate testing (the Student Health Center for students). This symptom comparison chart may also help.

CC Launches Year-Long Series Addressing Anti-Asian Racism

The year-long “Forever Foreign” series is bringing notable scholars, authors, and films to campus and to the greater community, and will culminate with keynote lectures by two Pulitzer Prize-winning Asian-American writers and public intellectuals — Viet Thanh Nguyen and Ayad Akhtar — in the second week of Block 7. In their work, both Nguyen, author of “The Sympathizer” and “The Committed,” and Akhtar, author of “Homeland Elegies,” write evocatively about the legacies of America’s two longest wars and the intersections of violence, migration/displacement, memory, and racism. Nguyen’s work addresses the legacies of the war in Vietnam and Akhtar’s those of the war on terror. Their writings suggest that the lived experiences of Asian diaspora communities and the phenomenon of anti-Asian racism can be productively approached by situating them within the broader history of the U.S. as a global imperial power and the many wars that it has fought in Asia. View the “Forever Foreign” series event schedule.

Join the Collaborative for Community Engagement’s Bonner Fellowship!

The Collaborative for Community Engagement is currently recruiting for first and second-year students to start in the Spring of 2022! The official deadline for applications is December 19, at 11:55 p.m. Read the full job description and apply on Handshake.

The Bonner Fellowship is a cohort-based, long-term, developmental, paid community engagement fellowship in which students commit to an average of 24 hours of community engagement, community-based learning, and community building per block.

Contact the CCE’s Civic Leadership Program Coordinator, Tyra Voget (tvoget@coloradocollege.edu“>tvoget@coloradocollege.edu) with any further questions.

Stephanie Doktor Wins 2021 Best Essay in Popular Music Scholarship

Visiting Assistant Professor Stephanie Doktor received an award from the American Musicological Society for her article, “Finding Florence Mills: The Voice of the Harlem Jazz Queen in the Compositions of William Grant Still and Edmund Thornton Jenkins,” published in the Journal of the Society for American Music. The award was presented at the American Musicological Society virtual conference on Nov. 21.

Despite Mills’ overwhelming popularity among New Negro Renaissance communities, she is little known today. Disregard for Black creative life in the early 20th century undercut preservation of her music, leaving only a meager collection. Doktor analyzes the music of Still and Jenkins that was scored for Mills and posits a new way to hear her voice through these compositions — one that contests the written reception of her racially biased listeners.

The committee was impressed with the timeliness of Doktor’s work in addressing musical constructions of race, modernity, and history. Doktor supported her arguments with a mixture of deep archival work and strong engagement with relevant, contemporary theorization. The committee celebrated this essay because Doktor helps the reader “hear” Mills, although no recordings exist, through a detailed examination of compositions written for the singer, revealing how voices often subvert gendered and racialized stereotypes. Cambridge University Press is making the article available for free for 6 months because of the award.

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Free Superpowers and $5

Get free superpowers for your immune system! Free flu shots and COVID-19 booster shots are available this Saturday, Dec. 11, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Plus, you get a $5 Amazon card for getting vaccinated.

Booster shots can help protect against the new Omicron variant of Coronavirus. The Student Health Center has confirmed an uptick in influenza cases on campus; the entire CC community is encouraged to get vaccinated against influenza as soon as possible. No one has time for the flu!

Although walk-ins will be accommodated, it’s best to make an appointment for the on-campus clinic, Saturday, Dec. 11, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in Cornerstone Main Space.

Basic public health practices like wearing masks, staying home and getting tested when sick, washing hands frequently, and social distancing can help protect the campus community from BOTH flu and COVID-19. Avoid unmasked indoor gatherings, including parties.

If you are feeling COVID or flu-like symptoms, stay home and contact the Student Health Center.

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Protect Yourself Against Flu and COVID-19

Free flu shots and COVID-19 booster shots are available this Saturday, Dec. 11, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Plus, you get a $5 Amazon card for getting vaccinated.

Booster shots can help protect against the new Omicron variant of Coronavirus. In addition, because the Student Health Center has confirmed an uptick in influenza cases on campus, the entire CC community is encouraged to get vaccinated against influenza as soon as possible. Vaccination can protect against severe illness, hospitalization, and death due to flu, as well as reduce the overall spread of illness.

Although walk-ins will be accommodated, it’s best to make an appointment for the on-campus clinic, Saturday, Dec. 11, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in Cornerstone Main Space.

Vaccinated individuals also help protect people around them, including those who are more vulnerable to serious flu illness, like babies and young children, older people, and people with certain chronic health conditions.

If you are feeling COVID or flu-like symptoms, stay home and contact your health care provider. If you are ill with the flu, ask your healthcare provider about antiviral drugs.

Employees can now upload COVID-19 booster information into Summit. Please follow these instructions to upload yours.

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Apply NOW for Communications Student Advisory Council

Do you have ideas about how to best reach fellow students with important information?

Are you interested in storytelling and how to authentically represent CC? Do you want to learn more about how communications strategies and campaigns are developed?

The CC Office of Communications invites you to participate on the Communications Student Advisory Council.

This new volunteer opportunity is a chance for you to share your perspective and first-person experience to help inform CC’s strategic communications.

Members of the council will work directly with the Office of Communications team to incorporate your student experience into storytelling across all our communications channels. Council members also will contribute insights on how the institutional communications efforts impact the day-to-day lives of students.

Submit an application TODAY (deadline is noon Dec. 22) on Handshake. The council will meet blockly starting in Block 5.

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Post-Fall Break Payroll Reminders

Please note the following details as you are recording your timesheet hours during the Fall Break.

If you did not work Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, and Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, please record your scheduled hours under “Fall Break.”

If you did not work on Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021, Thursday, Nov. 25, and Friday, Nov. 26, 2021, please record your scheduled hours under “Holiday.”

If you were REQUIRED to work on Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021, and/or Friday, Nov. 26, 2021, please record the hours that you worked in both the “regular pay” (for hours worked) and the category referenced above (for hours scheduled).

If you have any questions about recording hours, contact Heather Stapish in the Payroll Office:  hstapish@coloradocollege.edu or (719) 389-6420.

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COVID-19 Booster Clinic Dec. 11

CC healthcare partners, Optum, will offer a COVID-19 vaccination booster shot clinic on Saturday, Dec. 11, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Cornerstone Main Space.

Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be available, along with flu shots. Anyone who has not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine can also begin the vaccination process at this clinic.

Students, staff, faculty, and families are all welcome. Although walk-ins will be accommodated, you’re encouraged to schedule an appointment via Optum’s scheduling site.

The CDC recommends everyone 18 years and older receive a COVID-19 booster shot (six months after receiving the second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccnie or two months after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine). Additional vaccine sites in El Paso County are available here.

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Winter Commencement Celebration

Winter Commencement, set for Sunday, Dec. 19, is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate those students who complete their undergraduate studies prior to the May Commencement ceremony. This year’s event will take place in person in Shove Memorial Chapel, and the ceremony will include remarks from President L. Song Richardson and a Commencement address from Assistant Professor of Sociology Florencia Rojo. President Richardson also will lead the presentation of graduates and the awarding of diplomas.

Faculty members who would like to march in the ceremony should sign up no later than December 16, 2021.

To RSVP, or for any special accommodation needs, please contact Brenda Soto via email (bsoto@coloradocollege.edu) or by phone at (719) 389-6265.

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Save the Date for Spring Conference 2022

Save the Date for Spring Conference 2022

All faculty and staff members are invited to start the new semester together at Spring Conference 2022.

Save the date for Friday, Jan. 21, in El Pomar Sports Center’s Reid Gym. Lunch begins at 12:15 p.m. and the program begins at 12:30 p.m. Connect with colleagues, find out the winners of this year’s President’s Leadership Awards, and more. Registration opens Tuesday, Jan. 4; keep an eye out for additional details via email.

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Timely Warning: Vehicle Thefts

Over the last week Campus Safety and the Colorado Springs Police Department have received reports of two motor vehicle thefts (stolen cars) and six thefts from parked vehicles.

These crimes have occurred off campus near Monument Valley Park parking lot and along Mesa Avenue to the west of campus and on Wahsatch Avenue to the east of campus.

If you are a victim of any crime, please report it immediately. If you have any information regarding these recent crimes, please contact Campus Safety at (719) 389-6707, or CSPD non-emergency, (719) 444-7000 or make an anonymous report through Crime Stoppers at (719) 634-STOP (719) 634-7867.

Please observe the following safety tips to help protect yourself and your property:

Park in a well-lit area with high pedestrian traffic when possible.
Always lock your car doors and roll up the windows.
Never leave a spare set of keys or key fob in your car.
Thieves will look for magnetic hide-a-key boxes.
Be mindful of leaving anything of value visible in your car.
Remove your registration and insurance information with personal data from your car.
If you are securing valuables in the trunk of your car, do it before you arrive to park your car as thieves will watch parking lots at parks and trailheads.
Do you have any perceived valuables such as a gym bag, lunch box, or packages visible in your car? These are still appealing to a thief who does not know the contents.
If you don’t drive your car often, please check it as often as possible.
Report any suspicious behavior, activity, or circumstances you observe on or around campus immediately.

CSPD Non-Emergency (719) 444-7000

Campus Safety Emergency (719) 389-6911

Campus Safety Non-Emergency (719) 389-6707

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Post-Fall Break COVID-19 Update

Block 4 is underway, and we would like to remind you of the steps we are taking to ensure that the remainder of the Fall Semester goes as smoothly as possible.

Key Reminders

Students are participating in post-Fall Break testing.
Students with symptoms should not go to class and should call the Student Health Center, (719) 389-6384.
Masks are required in all public indoor spaces on campus when not actively eating or drinking.
Always wear a mask indoors, on or off campus, when in public spaces or gatherings.
Avoid unmasked social gatherings indoors where viral transmission is likely to occur.
Stay vigilant to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread and avoid disruption this block and for Winter Break.

Testing
All students, except those who have received positive test results in the 90 days prior, are taking an initial COVID-19 test this week. Thanks to all who have already taken their test! You are helping to keep our community healthy. If you haven’t yet, please pick up your test kit at the library, or, for this initial testing only, at your residence hall if you reside in South, Mathias, or Loomis Halls. Students, please contact us at covid19@coloradocollege.edu if your name/email address/CCID are not displayed correctly in your eMed or Navica app and need to be edited.

As of Wednesday, more than 1,500 students have already taken their initial test (or are within their 90-day window, on leave, or studying abroad), with only one positive test result. The CC COVID-19 dashboard is updated with new numbers. Based on results from initial screening testing, beginning next week, 33% of vaccinated students will participate in screening testing each week; students with exemptions will continue testing twice a week.

Please re-familiarize yourself with campus COVID-19 protocols, including updated information regarding screening and symptomatic testing.

Masking and Socializing
Masking guidance remains the same: universal indoor masking on campus; indoor masking strongly recommended off campus, as COVID-19 transmission levels continue to be high in El Paso County. Community transmission levels county by county are available here. Please check this website periodically to inform your masking practices.

As a reminder, food should not be served during meetings, unless outdoors.

We are monitoring the emerging situation regarding the new Omicron variant and will keep you updated on any developments that may affect our campus operations. We hope to know more within a few weeks.

Boosters
CDC recommends that all people 18 and older receive a booster shot if they are at least six months out from their second dose of an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) or two months out from receiving a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Details about an on-campus booster clinic in Block 4 are coming soon.

Classes are being held in person. Student activities, programming, and athletic practices are proceeding as planned. All campus dining facilities are open.

Our goal for Block 4 is to allow students to complete their academic work without disruption and return home for Winter Break. Students with positive test results after Dec. 12 would still be in isolation after the end of Block 4. Continue to practice good public health behaviors such as consistent indoor masking, particularly in the last two weeks of the block, to minimize disruption to travel plans and reduce elevated stress levels toward the end of the block.

Thank you for doing your part to reduce the spread of COVID-19! If you have questions, please contact covid19@coloradocollege.edu and check our Coronavirus Updates and Resources webpage.

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