Juniors, seniors can return in the spring

They’ll have the option of resuming activities on campus when new quarter begins March 29

Stanford announced Thursday that it’s giving juniors and seniors the option to return to campus at the start of spring quarter now that the coronivirus surge is subsiding.

University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne told the Stanford community in a letter that current pandemic conditions “support moving forward with offering juniors and seniors the opportunity to return to campus for the spring quarter,” which begins March 29.

“While many restrictions will remain in place, we have greater hope of offering a meaningful oncampus experience in the spring than we did this winter,” TessierLavigne said.

It has been nearly a year since all Stanford students were forced to leave campus under stay-athome orders intended to stem the spread of COVID-19.

The university said modeling by the School of Medicine suggests the trajectory of COVID-19 this spring “is likely to be manageable.”

Although the number of new COVID-19 cases is falling, there’s still a risk, Tessier-Lavigne said. Still, he added, Stanford is “prepared … to manage positive cases at the beginning of the quarter should any students who are unknowingly infected arrive on campus.”

Stanford noted there were several cases of COVID-19 among the 5,100 graduate students and 1,500 undergraduates living on campus in the winter quarter under approved special circumstances, though there was no spread.

About 1,300 juniors and seniors have requested to live on campus in the spring quarter, and students should be hearing back about housing assignments March 5. Juniors and seniors arriving on campus will have to schedule a move-in appointment from March 24 to March 28.

The university also has extended the enrollment date for classes from Sunday to March 7 to accommodate the new change.

For seniors and juniors returning to campus, face coverings, physical distancing and twice-aweek COVID-19 testing will be required. Most classes still will be remote, and only small gatherings will be allowed.

The Stanford campus, which currently is divided into “zones” between different fields of study to promote social distancing among students, still will impose other restrictions, Tessier-Lavigne said. Large gatherings will not be permitted, and June commencement will be virtual.

“There will again be a period of restricted activity for undergrad

uates at the beginning of the quarter that could be lonely for some,” Tessier-Lavigne said. “All juniors and seniors should consider these factors before making a final decision to come to campus. The choice to come is also a choice to abide by university policies and public health measures.”

If public health restrictions loosen up, Stanford could allow students in “households” of up to eight people to gather socially.

The university also hopes to allow more in-person academic interactions in small groups, likely outside, and potentially add small outdoor gatherings involving more than one so-called household.

Some student groups have asked the university to take into account those students who have been skirting COVID-19 protocols.

Tessier-Lavigne said he has heard some of those concerns but he has a “higher expectation” for Stanford students.

“We believe the vast majority of Stanford students, and hopefully all, will engage in responsible behaviors,” Tessier-Lavigne said. “We will continue to work with student leaders to help identify and organize activities that students can do safely.”

Stanford communications senior Cricket Bidleman said in an interview Thursday there has been significant noncompliance with campus policies during the winter quarter, and she doesn’t expect that to change.

Stanford scrapped plans to return freshmen and sophomores to campus during the winter quarter two days before the start date after 43 students tested positive in early January. Now they must wait until the fall even if the pandemic continues to slow down.

Bidleman said she’ll be returning to campus March 29 for the first time in over a year and looks forward to being with friends and professors shegottoknowduringherlastfew months at Stanford.

She said she wonders how the university will deal with noncompliance. It’s a “perfectly reasonable” desire to see friends once back on campus, Bidleman said. But she already has had to turn down one person’s invitation to hang out, and she’s not sure other people will refrain.

“They’re holding us to higher expectations,” Bidleman said. “I certainly will be following protocol, and I’d like to think most other people would, but another thing is that there’s definitely a desire to gather with people who we knew for years to get a chance to say goodbye before we go to all four corners of the world.”

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