“Working together we will continue our mission and do it safely. But it takes all of us pulling together, working for the common good, being a bit selfless and giving up some niceties in the short-term.”
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) President Tim Foster said these words in an email issued campus-wide on the morning of Aug. 19, 2020.
“Not reopening campus will have a disproportionately negative impact on first-generation, lower-income, and minority students — two-thirds of our student body,” Foster said earlier in the email. “Not reopening and not providing students with the education they deserve very likely will lead to a delay or complete loss of job placement, lifetime earnings and overall wellness.”
The email comes in the wake of schools across the United States going online-only for the fall semester, after hundreds of those students tested positive for coronavirus, including Michigan State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC).
UNC moved all classes online on Wednesday, Aug. 19, after 130 students tested positive, according to North Carolina’s The News & Observer.
After 8 days of in-person schooling, Notre Dame suspended in-person classes for two weeks starting Aug. 19 as well, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Data reported by UNC showed a 13.6% positive rate of tested students for last week, almost double the average for the previous three weeks. Over 15% of those tested at Notre Dame since Aug. 3 were positive.
CMU, as of August 13, has administered tests to 7,814 students, and received 6,564 test results back so far. Only 25 have tested positive since July 27 — a 0.38% prevalence rate.
“Much of our community is here in Mesa County, and Mesa County is a very low-prevalence to begin with,” CMU Vice President John Marshall said when asked about the testing results.
The discrepancy of those tested and the results received can be explained by a lag during the processing of the tests — it takes two days to get the results back.
“Tuesday, we tested probably 200. They would show up in the ‘tests administered’ category. They get shipped to the lab, the lab will run them, and then they start [getting results],” Marshall said.
CMU continues through the first week with its Safe Together, Strong Together plan.
“We hope you join the Mavily this fall in-person and help shape the future of our world through the experiences you will have, and the knowledge you will gain, during your years at CMU,” Foster’s email read.
