UW prepares to welcome back Tent City 3

Posted on November 16, 2020

Students, faculty and staff joined Tent City 3 residents to help the community move in Dec. 2016. Photo: University of Washington

Homelessness continues to be a crisis in our region as well as the nation. UW students, staff and faculty continue to respond in a variety of ways including by welcoming back Tent City 3 to the Seattle campus for 90 days during winter quarter 2021. UW hosted TC3 for the first time in winter 2017.

Tent City 3 is a self-managed community providing safe, secure temporary housing to individuals, couples and families, rotating locations every three months. While not a solution to homelessness, organized encampments provide safe spaces for people to sleep, eat and live. Many TC3 residents work. Often the camp includes families with children who have no other place to turn.

Tent City 3 will be hosted in the same location as it was in 2017, parking lot W35, situated between Wallace Hall and the Fishery Sciences buildings off NE Pacific St. near Brooklyn Ave. NE.

The request to bring Tent City 3 back came from the Tent City Collective—a group of UW students and faculty working with Tent City 3 residents. TCC’s proposal for hosting TC3 centers on academic, clinical and service learning opportunities in line with the UW’s educational mission.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s TC3 residency will be different. Tent City 3 already works with King County Public Health to access to testing and contact tracing for the TC3 community. As part of the agreement with UW regarding the residency, TC3 will provide a COVID-19 prevention plan. It’s likely that UW course connections with TC3 will be virtual, utilizing iPads, except for clinical courses like those from MEDEX.

If you would like to learn more, please visit https://www.uw.edu/community/homelessness/. The site includes an FAQ. As with the previous residency in 2017, the memorandum of agreement between UW and Tent City 3 and the project operations and safety plan will be posted there.

The Tent City Collective is always looking for students staff and faculty who want to help. You can connect with TCC via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tentcitycollective/

If you’d like to contribute food or supplies during TC3’s stay, please visit the TC3 website here http://www.sharewheel.org/tent-city-3.

Greek Housing COVID-19 Response

Posted on October 30, 2020October 30, 2020

In response to the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Greek housing, the University of Washington has been working with these students, State and local authorities on strategies to reduce case numbers.

The Governor’s Office recently issued a proclamation establishing guidelines for higher education housing, including off-campus Greek housing. This proclamation limits the number of people who can share a room, limits the size of gatherings and requires people to wear a masks in common areas. It also requires colleges and universities to provide isolation and quarantine housing to off-campus students who request it.

To reduce parties and other gatherings during this pandemic, the University is working with the City of Seattle and Public Health – Seattle & King County on strategies to educate and remind students about protective practices and restrictions during the pandemic. This strategy includes outreach to students, increased UW Police presence north of campus, and special emphasis patrols during Halloween and on football gamedays to reduce gatherings. The University is also actively discouraging tailgating on gamedays. Access to UW parking lots for gatherings on game days will be prohibited.

If you see parties or other gatherings flouting COVID-19 prevention in the neighborhood, you can report your concerns to David Hotz (dhotz@uw.edu) at the UW’s Office of Greek Life or to the Community Standards and Student Conduct Office (cssc@uw.edu). Please include the address, relative size of group, and time/date of the gathering.

Although there is still work to do, COVID-19 case numbers in the Greek system seem to be slowing. Many students are working hard to keep themselves and their houses healthy and their focus is making a difference.

You can track UW community case numbers at the University’s case tracking dashboard.

Move-in time at UW

Posted on September 25, 2020

Around 4,000 students are moving into the residence halls at the University of Washington this week. A number of special precautions are being taken to ensure minimal contact and proper physical distancing during the move-in process. View details and a glimpse of the student experience here:
Video: UW students move into residence halls

Students moving into residence halls on north and west campus

CUCAC meetings suspended

Posted on September 23, 2020

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the City of Seattle has suspended major institution advisory committee meetings, such as the City-University Community Advisory Committee (CUCAC), unless the committee’s review is required.

Fall quarter instruction begins September 30

Posted on September 3, 2020

Huskies prepare now for the start of the school year like no other. With COVID-19 precautions leading to primarily virtual instruction and no Husky football this fall, Seattle campus operations will look different. This means lower levels of activity around campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods, but neighbors can still expect to see a moderate increase in activity starting later this month.

Overall, staff and faculty are working to ensure high quality instruction and the health and safety of the campus community. UW Medicine remains at the forefront of COVID-19 testing, treatment and research. Students, staff and faculty from all over UW have developed innovative ways of teaching, serving and connecting despite COVID-19, starting last spring and now moving into fall.

Neighbors and travelers through the greater University District in Seattle will notice an increased level of activity starting September 8 when some students return to the Greek houses north of campus, and then again the third week of September as students start to move into the residence halls. Final numbers won’t be available until October, but UW expects just more than 4,000 students will live on the Seattle campus this fall. Unfortunately, there won’t be common hangout areas and while food services will be open, the options will be restricted to grab-and-go.

More than 90 percent of class sections on the Seattle campus will be held online. Only very small courses (usually higher level undergraduate and graduate courses) and classes that cannot be taught remotely (labs and performance arts, for example) will be held in person. In these classes masks and physical distancing will be required. UW Facilities is gearing up for frequent and intense cleaning of rooms.

As a reminder, face coverings are required for anyone on campus indoors (unless working solo in a private office) and outdoors when it’s not possible to maintain distancing from others.

On a final note, small businesses around UW’s three campuses, also, are experiencing a year like no other. Keep them in mind when thinking about take-out food, outdoor dining (several in Seattle are participating in a partial closure of University Way between 41^st and 43^rd in order to make distanced café seating possible), small retail needs, and school supplies (University Bookstore’s online ordering has proved super quick).

COVID-19 resources

The University of Washington maintains a COVID-19 facts and resources page that contains both internal and external links on a variety of related topics, such as what to do if you feel sick. View https://www.washington.edu/coronavirus/ to start, and drill down to even more specific resources on this page with autumn quarter FAQs: https://www.washington.edu/coronavirus/autumnquarter/