I disagree with this. The residential college experience is exposing students to other students from all over the world. They are sharing rooms, bathrooms, dining commons, classrooms, libraries, etc with hundreds and thousands of other students. The risk of transmitting the virus in a dense college environment is high.
Contrast that with students taking online classes from their own homes which is going to be much more safe, I think we can all agree on this.
Also, I don’t agree with the last sentence of the second bullet point because they could just make students sign something saying that they would have to stay on-campus if the colleges decided they need to with harsh consequences if they disobeyed. I could also imagine them shortening winter break and saying students couldn’t go home for fall break or Thanksgiving break.
Here is what MIT President said in his letter (underlining is mine):
https://covid19.mit.edu/mit’s-financial-picture-and-our-next-steps
Along with Harvard, MIT has been the leader in pandemic response, announcing campus closure as early as March 10, before any cases were detected on campus. Their actions were used as a model by other institutions, and that will likely remain the case.
That they plan to make the decision relatively soon can only mean that they will lean on the side of caution, as there is virtually no realistic scenario under which they would be able to announce normal Fall campus opening in the next one and a half to two months.
Whether they will have limited opening or full online semester/year, it is unrealistic at this point to expect a normal freshman year at any major American university, regardless of one’s personal preferences or mitigation ideas.
@socaldad2002 My dad is a doctor with an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Biology, and he says that keeping the colleges closed isn’t going to do much good, especially considering that the fatality rate among college-age students is so low. At some point, almost everyone is going to get the virus, regardless of what people do (this is also coming from my dad), so keeping the colleges closed doesn’t make sense (according to him).
Unless he is a university president, your dad isn’t making the decision. Those who are at this point seem to be erring on the side of caution.
@katliamom I’m sure all colleges are heavily weighing the advisements of experts like him in making the decisions.
@TheVulcan Amherst College actually took action before MIT and Harvard did. They closed on March 9 with no confirmed cases on campus, and they were the first college in Massachusetts to do so. Many Massachusetts colleges made their decisions the following day. In this case, Amherst College was the leader.
Thanks for the correction. What is Amherst saying about Fall reopening?
@TheVulcan They were the leader in the initial closing, but they’re not the leader now. They haven’t said anything besides “We’d all like to know… whether colleges and universities will be able to open on time in the Fall.” It seems like MIT is taking the position of leader now. Also, there is going to be a big virtual student town hall this Wednesday, so we will probably get some information then.
Since the US is the epicenter of the outbreak, international students aren’t the risk to our children, the risk runs the other way. And our kids are just as likely to be exposed in their running around any major American city this fall as they would be on campus, I think. Good luck keeping young adults cooped up inside when everyone else has gone back to work or school except them, the least vulnerable.
College’s financial strength should certainly be viewed as a major factor in making matriculation decisions by those with the luxury of having options.
Colleges in the greater Boston area took actions earlier because of the Biogen conference held in Boston in late February. The spread of the coronavirus among the conferees were confirmed as earlier as March 3.
Don’t these colleges need to coordinate with others in their sports leagues or do we assume no fall sports as well?
Since both Stanford and Duke, with their enormous endowments, are sounding dire warnings of layoffs and dramatic cutbacks, which schools are you suggesting be considered financially strong enough to withstand this?
Between Duke and Stanford, choose Stanford.
When HYPMS close, everyone else does the coordinating.
With all due respect to your dad, this view appears rather short-sighted as it doesn’t take into account the facts that 1) The student population is not a homogeneous population, ie, lacking those who might have certain pre-existing conditions placing them in higher risk categories; and 2) the students are not the only persons who might be put at risk if they return to campus – the faculty, staff, and members of the surrounding community are at risk, as well.
A family member is a college coach back East. He’s been told informally there will be no basketball practice this fall.
HYP play the Ivy Leage; there are others (more prestigious, frankly.)
Missing the key statements in the MIT letter posted by @TheVulcan. I think the letter reveals interesting things:
Leads me to believe that (for example) grad students and seniors may be first back on campus followed by lower classes the following semester.
Expect (for example) Foreign students and freshman/sophomores will use distance learning first semester.
I’ve teed this up as the approach I believe Stanford will take (no proof) as grad students and seniors could be introduced on campus at lower density. Grad student dorms have private bath and kitchens. Seniors could be dispersed across many dorms. This may be particular to Stanford as they support on campus rooms for freshmen thru seniors.