Covid Return to Campus Safety protocols

Colleges and Universities A-Z Willamette University
1

Willamette University just unveiled their return to campus plans on Monday and I am terrified. Initially was excited to send my freshman but now I have serious reservations.

  1. No one coming into campus is required to do a covid test BEFORE entering Willamette. School is taking the honor system approach. Hello asymptomatic carriers. Not even from states like CA, AZ, TX or FL that are hardest hit.
  2. The school is taking a very baseline/lackadaisical approach to infection. "We are following CDC and state guidelines. We don't believe in testing because there are a lot of false results." If they gather all the incoming students from all parts of the country, they are asking for an outbreak without testing. Even with it's limitations, testing would give the college DATA they can use to track and trace students and staff.
  3. All classes will immediately be indoors. They are not even going to attempt to have a grace period where all incoming students have to do 14 days of outdoor classes, see if anyone develops symptoms, and then bring it inside.
  4. Athletes - no one is required to test. What?!!!! This is insane.

Overall they are strongly recommending that all incoming and returning students come back to campus with these plans in place.

Curious to know what other Willamette families think of this. Are you ok trusting the school’s blind faith policy?

2

Not a Willamette student but if there’s anything we learned in the past few months, pretending it doesn’t exist and/or doing nothing doesn’t work. I am appalled to see that a school would even consider this as their plan or rather lack of a plan.