CSU Fraternity & Sorority Life – Community Update COVID-19

F/S Community Update – COVID-19

Greetings!

We hope each of you have had a safe and healthy spring break and are looking forward to settling into the remainder of the spring semester. This unprecedented time may cause stress, anxiety, and uncertainty as you attempt to find a new normal for the rest of the semester.

You may have questions about CSU’s planning and response to COVID-19. We encourage you to continue checking CSU’s webpage where information about responses is provided. Some university decisions specifically influence fraternity and sorority operations, we want to provide some resources and support to our community.

Maintaining Community:

Your fraternity or sorority often provides a strong sense of community and belonging for members. With CSU’s move to online classes, we know many of you will not be returning to Fort Collins but will instead be completing the semester remotely (hopefully while practicing social distancing). As a result, this might be a time filled with loneliness and anxiety.

• We will be creating opportunities for community engagement via social media and have linked several resources to support you as you seek community during these uncertain times.
• Read this PhiredUp Blog for new ideas: We’re Brother and Sisters: Not Roommates and Event Planners!
• Recognize and find ways to celebrate senior members who may be having a particularly challenging time managing the current situation.
• Social distance does not have to be isolation. Our friends at Active Minds wrote this fantastic resource on staying emotionally healthy during this time. Connect with each other regularly.
• Schedule a Google Hangout, Zoom, Skype, or FaceTime call with brothers/sisters
• Watch something together via NetflixParty
• Check out this HuffPost article on The 50 Best Free Workout Resources You Can Find Online

Programming:

To be mindful of individual and community needs related to COVID-19, we are cancelling the in-person format of all our spring events. Our staffF/S Programming Board is currently working on revisioning many of our spring events to allow as much content as possible to be delivered in a virtual format. Please visit Instagram, and/or the fraternity and sorority website for updated information related to our online offerings. We’ll do our best to update all three with content and information as we have it.

Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life and Staff:

Our staff are deeply committed to continuing to provide quality service, advising and support to all members of our community.

• We will not have an in-person presence in our LSC office
• Our core staff will work remotely for as long as necessary. We are available via phone, email, and video conferencing. To reach your chapter’s OFSL liaison, please click here.
• Student staff will have the option to work on projects from home

Mental Health/Health Care:

• The CSU Health Network is still available during this time, and you can learn how to access services any time at: https://health.colostate.edu/.
  • All counseling services are available remotely by phone. If you have an urgent mental health concern or need immediate support, please call (970) 491-7111 to speak with a counselor now (available 24/7). Or, if you are at home, call your family or personal medical provider at that location. In an emergency, call 9-1-1.

• •  If you have an existing counseling appointment, it will occur over the phone. Your provider will call you. Please find a private area where you can take the call.

• The purpose of the YOU@CSU portal is to connect students with campus resources and other online educational tools to increase CSU student success. The innovative digital tool promotes self-reflection, allowing students to be more proactive with their health and well-being in order to make the most of their college experience. Access it now at https://health.colostate.edu/youcsu/.

APIDA Students

We ask our community to stand with and support the APIDA community who may be facing increased racism and xenophobia due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please see the link above to access the Asian Pacific American Cultural Center’s statement.

Pay special attention to the cultural differences about wearing masks in the United States. Here, it is generally assumed that someone wearing a mask is sick. In other countries, individuals may wear a mask as a preventative measure. This difference can create situations where individuals who are wearing a mask may face inappropriate reactions from others, ranging from fear to anger, purely for wearing a mask. This is especially true for APIDA individuals.

Basic Needs

Food insecurity can be compounded for people relying on the food bank, WIC, or other resources that offer limited food options. Please view the resources related to food insecurity below:

• Visit the Food Bank of Larimer County for more information.
  • Fort Collins Fresh Food Share Pantry:
    • 1301 Blue Spruce Drive • Fort Collins, CO
    • Temporary COVID-19 Hours mare 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.

Some of you may experience financial hardship due to these uncertain times. These financial hardships include, but are not limited to:

• Students may need to drop out if their family members such as parents or guardians are no longer able to financially assist.
• Potential loss of jobs and insurance to access care.
• Financial hardship if cancelled events do not refund tickets or registration for events and travel already paid for.
• Impact of having to return home early from education abroad experiences.

We encourage you to refer to information and resources available through CSU’s Office of Financial Aid at https://financialaid.colostate.edu/.

Many companies are offering their services for free for people who are struggling with resources at this time. Some examples include:

• Uhaul free storage for people who have been displaced
• T-Mobile additional data and hotspots
• Xcel Energy flexible bill pay
• Comcast free internet, etc.

The Women & Gender Advocacy Center has created a list of some of these resources. This list is editable, so please add to it if you know of other resources.

Academic Support

We know many of you may be seeking additional resources as your academic course load transitions to online delivery. Please refer the to resources below for support:

• Keep Learning: https://www.acns.colostate.edu/keep-learning/
  • Please refer to the new CSU policies connected to remote instruction: https://canvas.colostate.edu/newcsupolicies-remoteinstruction/
    • Course withdrawal: The university has moved the course withdrawal deadline from March 23 to May 8
    • Repeat/delete: This deadline has also moved from March 23 to May 8 for Spring 2020 only
  • Collaborative for Student Achievement online resources: http://studentachievement.colostate.edu/online-service-only-during-covid-19-health-crisis/

COVID-19 and Interpersonal Violence:

Please review the message below from the Women & Gender Advocacy Center, designed to educate campus about how COVID-19 and the subsequent disruption to university and community life impacts to survivors. Here are just a few examples:

• Threats to secure employment can increase a survivor’s reliance on unsafe housing/employment options
• Social distancing increases isolation with violent partners which will result in more incidents of violence. Distancing also subsequently reduces access to coping mechanisms (e.g. socializing, eating out, access to gyms/rec centers), social networks, and support resources
• Closure or cancellation of support resources (e.g. counseling appointments, support groups, medical visits, etc.) can halt ongoing safety planning and healing processes for survivors. Additionally, survivors will face increased food insecurity, a reluctance to go to the hospital for SANE/rape Kits, and a risk of exposure in shelters
• Increase in racist or xenophobic incidents of bias will have a disproportionate impact on APIDA (Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi American) survivors
• Stress can exacerbate triggers around addiction and self-harm. Mental health and PTSD can also impact a survivor’s immune system, particularly for folks with disabilities

For support and recourses related to interpersonal violence, please visit the WAGAC website found here.

Please let us know if there is anything, we can do to support you, and please do what you can to support each other.

Warmly,

Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life