Interim President Amy Marcus-Newhall announced in a welcome back email to the Scripps College community that Scripps will require weekly Covid-19 tests for all students, faculty, and staff during the beginning of the semester. Prior to this, Scripps planned to implement random and periodic testing in addition to requiring all students to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and to show proof of a negative test prior to campus arrival.
This change in policy comes as a result of “the recent surge in COVID cases in Los Angeles County.” To address the problem, “[t]he College will require weekly screening tests for all students, faculty, and staff in the initial weeks of the semester. To comply with this requirement, all students, faculty, and staff must download the Healthfully app by September 3.” Unvaccinated students and employees will be required to be tested twice a week. Scripps did not state for how long the weekly testing will occur.
Scripps has already instituted a series of health policies to address the spread of COVID-19 on campus. Members of the junior class were compelled to live off-campus due to a lack of housing resulting from the ongoing pandemic. Scripps also required students to present a negative COVID-19 test prior to moving in at the start of the fall semester.
Scripps is not the only member of the Claremont Consortium to require weekly testing for students, faculty, and staff. Pomona College announced a similar requirement earlier this month, and Claremont McKenna College (CMC) implemented its own safety protocols after a series of cases during orientation week.