Purdue president touts ‘good start’ to semester
5 miles of Plexiglas, compliance with regulations help the cause
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – After months of planning and preparation for a new semester under the coronavirus pandemic, Molly Coomes was nearly as eager as Purdue University officials to resume in-person classes.
As the masked sophomore, coffee in hand, headed to her first class on the campus where masks are mandatory and lecture halls are socially distanced, she realized her mistake.
“I thought, ‘Why did I do that?’ ” Coomes said of the coffee. “I can’t take a drink, because I feel like taking a mask off is like breaking a law around here.”
Things didn’t get any easier in class, which was interrupted by technical issues that crisscrossed the campus. Her professor acknowledged that he was in the vulnerable age range for COVID-19, asking his students, Coomes said, “Please don’t kill him.”
“It’s definitely really weird,” Coomes said. “I thought it was going to be really chaotic, with no structure. But I think they’ve worked really hard to have a plan . ... But I really like it. I’m glad to be back.”
Even as Purdue reopened Aug. 24, other U.S. campuses retreated to remote learning temporarily – in the case of Butler University in Indianapolis and Notre Dame – or for the rest of the semester – as in the case of Michigan State University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
At the University of Alabama, more than 1,000 positive COVID-19 tests were recorded after a week and a half of in-person classes, prompting Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox to say fall plans were “in serious jeopardy.”
Purdue President Mitch Daniels, a former Indiana governor, has been outspoken about the need for inperson instruction, comparing it to a civic duty.
“To tell (students), ‘Sorry, we are too incompetent or too fearful to figure out how to protect your elders, so you have to disrupt your education’ would be a gross disservice to them and a default of our responsibility,” Daniels wrote in May for an opinion piece in The Washington Post.
Over the summer, Purdue piled up 5 miles of Plexiglas for classrooms and dining spaces, purchased 1 million face masks, outlined 783 social distancing plans for instructional spaces, delivered 50,000 wellness kits to faculty, students and staff, tested roughly 40,000 students before they arrived, hired dozens of contact tracers, converted dining halls into grab-and-go operations and found ways for 65% of university staff to work remotely.
Daniels confided with faculty this month about the prospects of pulling off a semester that on paper is scheduled to last in person until Thanksgiving.
“If you’re worried about the next 13 weeks, join the club,” Daniels said.
On opening day, 9% of the roughly 40,000 expected to be on campus did not have the testing clearance required to move into a Purdue residence hall or to attend a class, according to figures released by the university.
As of Friday, the school reported 60 students tested positive for COVID-19 in the previous seven days, bringing the total to 80 confirmed cases since Aug. 1. Purdue’s figures showed 12 university employees – including three in the past seven days – tested positive.
“It’s way too soon for conclusions,” Daniels said Friday in videos posted to social media and YouTube. “It’s surely way too soon for celebrations, but it’s not too soon to say, ‘Thank you,’ for the overwhelming cooperation and compliance we’ve seen. It’s really helped us get off to a good start. At least that’s how it looks to me.”
Purdue officials did not elaborate on the confirmed COVID-19 cases, including questions about how many students were told to quarantine after coming in contact with those infected. At least three houses with more than 100 students combined – a fraternity, a sorority and cooperative house that had been suspended for ignoring social distance guidelines at a party – confirmed they were in quarantine, and students were on lockdown, arranging classes remotely.
Esteban Ramirez, Purdue’s medical director, said Purdue monitors on- and off-campus student housing. Purdue set aside 800 to 900 rooms for isolation space for those who test positive.
“We do have ample space at this point,” Ramirez said Wednesday.