DePaul University will revert its campus visitor management policy back to pre-pandemic operations for the first time since March of 2020. The policy change will now enable DePaul students to welcome all vaccinated guests into their on-campus housing units.

As reported by The DePaulia, the university's Department of Housing and Residential Education updated the visitor management policy on April 11, opening on-campus housing to DePaul students and non-students. Following the arrival of pandemic-driven policies, the only people who were allowed into campus housing were DePaul students, parents and guardians.

The university first began to loosen protocols on campus, including visitor management restrictions, with the start of the spring quarter.

“DePaul housing formed its latest decision about the visitor policy based on a variety of factors, including the number of cases in our resident community on campus and throughout Chicago,” said Rick Moreci, director of housing, dining and student centers in a statement to The DePaulia. “Moreover, the Center for Disease Control recently released a new COVID-19 community level system to help measure COVID risk, which we are now taking into account.”

The updated visitor management policy allows for students to have a maximum of two vaccinated guests. But there are still some guidelines that students must adhere to when hosting guests:

• Both the student and the visitors must sign in and out at the residence hall security desk.
• The guests must present their DePaul student ID or government-issued ID.
• If the visitor is not a DePaul student, they must show proof of vaccination.

“We have an internal committee of staff from Housing, Residential Education and Public safety, and our planning process has not changed since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Moreci. “We monitor COVID cases, review guidance from local authorities and public health organizations and meet regularly to discuss next steps for the visitor policy.”