Be COVID Careful This Halloween

Key takeaways:

• Make smart choices: The more we practice COVID safety measures, the more opportunities we will have to celebrate in-person. It’s best to gather only with fully-vaccinated friends or your household group. Face coverings are still required indoors, both in campus buildings and off-campus in the City of Berkeley.

• Celebrate responsibly: If you or your friends choose to drink or serve alcohol, please do so responsibly.

• Get a ride rather than walk alone: Use free Night Safety Services (nightsafety.berkeley.edu) travel with a friend in well--lit areas when walking at night. Also, consider rideshares or other safe means of conveyance. Emergency “Blue Light” Telephone stations are located around campus if you need help.

• Get consent, respect boundaries: Practice affirmative consent at all times. Practice acceptance of your own and others’ boundaries.

Dear UC Berkeley undergraduate, graduate, and professional students,

With Halloween weekend fast approaching, we want to partner with you to make good choices to keep your health and safety, as well as the health and safety of your friends, in mind. 

Around Halloween, many students wish to dress up and celebrate. We encourage students to be attentive to their surroundings, celebrate in safe ways, look out for each other and demonstrate the care and respect we all expect from our Berkeley community. We can all play a part in making Berkeley safer, more fun, and inclusive. And in doing all of these things, while remaining COVID careful, means we will have more opportunities to celebrate in person in the near future.

Below are some helpful tips to help you enjoy your Halloween weekend safely. You may wish to save some of these important phone numbers in your phones for easy access:

• If you plan to attend in-person events, consider gathering outdoors or only with fully vaccinated friends. During the event, kindly and firmly ask people to follow public health precautions and have at least one person who will watch over the group. 

• Also, be respectful of our community neighbors around our campus. Be mindful of noise, and demonstrate care for those who live in the city of Berkeley. If you are organizing an event or party keep in mind that the city’s quiet hours are every night from 10 PM to 7AM; and that hosts can be fined $750 for causing a substantial community disturbance based on the city’s second response ordinance.

• If you or your friends plan to drink or serve alcohol, please do it responsibly. Read more about our Responsible Bystander Policy. Remember, do not drink and drive! Use these PartySafe@Cal Harm Reduction & Risk Management approaches to get what you want without what you don’t want. 

• If you are at a public place indoors, please wear your face coverings with your costume. (As a reminder - face coverings are still required indoors in campus buildings and off-campus in the City of Berkeley, and remember new rules requiring proof of vaccination for indoor eating establishments, bars, etc.).

  • Note that carrying fake weapons or close imitations can often be perceived as a safety threat if wrongly identified by law enforcement. 

  • If you use Uber, Lyft, or other resources to get around, remember you need a face covering to ride. 

  • Stay to well-lit places and avoid situations you deem suspicious.

• Use free Night Safety Services (nightsafety.berkeley.edu), or travel with a friend or in a group and use well-lit, frequently traveled areas when walking at night.

  • Beginning at dusk until 3 am, seven days a week, you can access BearWalk at bearwalk.berkeley.edu / (510) 642-WALK (9255) to make a request for a safe way home and to see a live map of night safety buses and their proximity relative to your location. Or, take a night safety shuttle (until 3 am) or door-to-door shuttle (until 6 am).  

• Remember, healthy relationships embody respect, consent and listening, open communication, and agency. Consent is active, continuous, and can be withdrawn at any time. Alcohol and other drugs can impact someone's ability to consent. Look out for one another: speak up or take action when another student is pressuring someone or crossing a line. Check-in with your partner and friends  to ensure boundaries are being respected throughout every interaction.

  • When you see someone you haven’t seen in a while, please ask them if they feel comfortable before hugging or providing any other physical contact. Personal comfort levels at this stage of COVID vary, and we need to respect each other’s boundaries, personal space, and bodies.

  • There are resources to help you or a friend. All students - graduate, professional, and undergraduate - can access UC Berkeley’s PATH to Care Center. 

    • If a friend tells you that they have been impacted by sexual violence and harassment, relationship violence, and/or stalking, offer support and connect them to resources. 

    • Survivors feel most supported when they are believed, listened to, and empowered to make decisions that help them feel safe and comfortable. 

    • One way to help your friend or peer is to offer to sit with them while they reach out to resources for support and/or to report. You can also support and respect them by maintaining their privacy and accepting their choices, regardless if you agree with them or not.

• Notice (and point out to your friends) the Emergency “Blue Light” Telephone stations located around campus. These can be used to notify UCPD that assistance is needed. If you need help, dial 911 or use a blue light emergency phone (located throughout the campus and identified by a blue light on top of the phone box or column).

  • On campus non-emergencies - UCPD at (510) 642-6760 (police.berkeley.edu).

  • City of Berkeley - Berkeley Police Department at (510) 981-5900 (ci.berkeley.ca.us/police).

Please have a safe and fun Halloween weekend.

Sincerely,

This message was sent to all undergraduate and graduate students.