Due to the continuing spread of COVID-19, Compact20, Campus Compact’s biennial national conference and related events, is canceled. The public health implications make it impossible to move forward with our events scheduled to begin in Seattle on March 29. We are profoundly disappointed to share this news, but it is clear there is no other responsible path forward.

We will issue full refunds to all registrants who request them. 

Campus Compact will pay a significant financial price for this cancelation. We are a non-profit organization operating on narrow margins. If you are in a position to help us weather this storm, we will appreciate it greatly. One way for conference registrants to help is by forgoing refunds. If you would like to make a contribution to Campus Compact, visit compact.org/give. Either way, we will be immensely grateful.

The deadline to request a refund is April 1, 2020. Registrants should visit forms.gle/ZeCGqtzKuMGBbGs76 to do so.*

In recent days, we have been asked why we did not act earlier; because the decision was clearly irrevocable once made, we wanted to be absolutely sure it was the right thing to do before we acted.

There are two main reasons why this seemed important. First, thousands of person-hours have gone into planning and preparation for the conference. Our staff, our partners at Seattle member institutions, the many people who proposed sessions, session reviewers, our contractors—all of these people invested their time, energy, and intellect to make Compact20 a great event. We owed them care and deliberation before canceling the events toward which their efforts were directed.

Second, we know that the people who will be most directly affected by our decision to cancel the conference are the many workers dependent for their livelihoods on events like ours—room cleaners, caterers, maintenance workers, and more. As we enter a period of economic upheaval and health risk, these workers and their families will pay the highest price. We wanted to be certain we had no choice before we contributed to the difficulties they face. In that spirit, we ask you to think about how you can support vulnerable people in communities affected by COVID-19.

In the absence of an in-person gathering, we will try to find ways to connect our network and to share as much conference content as we can. We are actively investigating the possibility of offering some content virtually later in the spring. To get more information, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at eepurl.com/gj_rnz.

If you have questions, you can start by checking out our FAQs at events.compact.org/conference/questions, which we will continue to update. If you don’t find answers there, feel free to reach out to us.

Please take care of yourselves and those around you. Do what you can to support those likely to suffer most. And keep in touch.

*If you previously canceled your registration and were promised a refund of the $100 cancelation fee in the case the conference was not held, your $100 will be refunded automatically; you do not have to fill out a form.