Universities begin considering canceling in-person classes until 2021

CNN — A number of universities are beginning to consider the possibility that in-person classes may not resume until 2021. But the school’s coronavirus recovery plan includes protocols should officials deem it not safe to return in-person for the fall semester, and says classes would continue to be held remotely through the fall semester. “The Recovery Plan recognizes that if, in the unlikely event that public health officials deem it unsafe to open in the fall of 2020, then the University’s contingency plan envisions the need to consider a later in-person return, perhaps in January 2021,” the university said in an online statement. “The possibility is sad, but I understand that they have to consider all scenarios.” An increasing number of schools are doing exactly that Harvard, which was one of the first universities to send students home earlier this spring in a bid to “de-densify” its campus, is considering “lots of different scenarios” for the fall semester, President Lawrence S. Bacow said in an interview last week. So that is why we are going to prepare as best we can for every possible contingency.” And the University of Arizona said it remains hopeful the fall semester would include a return to campus.