COVID-19 Roundup: When the Rubber Meets the Road

The fall term has been on the minds of nearly everyone in higher education for months now. As some colleges around the country begin move-ins and online classes this week, the rubber will finally be meeting the road as far as plans and preparations. Some universities and colleges, faced with days or weeks until doors open, are reversing decisions to invite students to campus. Others are pushing full-steam ahead, sometimes with consequences.

Though new COVID-19 cases have declined in the United States nearly 19 percent in the last two weeks, new cases are still averaging at more than 50,000 per day. Nearly 1,000 people died of the coronavirus on Saturday alone. Nationally, 161,900 people have died, according to The New York Times.

At this point numerous colleges and universities have reversed their plans to bring some or all undergraduate students back to campus. These past few days added at least three to that total: Howard University, Mount Holyoke College, and Princeton University.

Those colleges had been preceded by a number of their geographic or market position peers, and some cited state-imposed quarantine requirements as one reason for keeping residence halls closed.

In the case of Howard University, three other private colleges in the District of Columbia -- Georgetown, George Washington and American Universities -- previously reversed plans to bring undergraduate students to campus. Howard also follows fellow HBCU's Spelman College, Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University in its announcement.

"Nationally, we continue to see COVID-19 cases rise, with an increasing infection rate among young people. We have also grown more painfully aware of the disparate impact of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths among people of color, with particular devastation on the Black community," wrote President Wayne Frederick in his announcement. Frederick also noted that if campus reopened, 40 percent of Howard students would need to quarantine for two weeks on arrival to be in line with District of Columbia regulations.

Mount Holyoke’s announcement was preceded by those of Smith College and University of Massachusetts -- Amherst, all three of which are part of a five-college consortium in Massachusetts.

Princeton's announcement makes it the strictest of the Ivy League universities, many of which are planning to bring students back to live on campus. The university's president, Christopher Eisgruber, said in his announcement that while restrictions on travel and commerce made by the state of New Jersey were necessary and justified, they have prevented the university from moving forward with its reopening plan. Along with other restrictions on gatherings, the state has required anyone traveling from 34 other states to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival. The College of New Jersey, a public institution in the state, cited similar reasons for its decision to keep instruction online.

Joining those colleges in playing it safe, the Mid-American Conference announced Saturday that it would be postponing its entire fall season this year, affecting 2,500 athletes in various fall sports. The decision makes MAC so far the only Football Bowl Subdivision league (meaning in NCAA’s top football tier) to not hold games this season. Soccer, cross-country, field hockey and women’s volleyball will also be affected. A statement from the conference left open the possibility that athletes in fall sports would have a chance to compete in spring 2021.