Cornell 2020-21 plans

Cornell plans for fall announced.


Classes ["residential instruction"] start Sept. 2

Lots of on-campus lectures, visits, bands, yada yada, will be scaled back or told to say home.

Thanksgiving break after classes end Tuesday Nov. 24. Go home, stay home, online classes and exams through Monday Dec. 21. Then a loooong winter break.

Spring semester in person Tuesday, Feb. 9 - Tuesday, May 25. Nothing at all reported about Slope Day. Graduation for December and May grads Memorial Day weekend.

Head of alumni affairs Michelle Vaeth '98 adds: no Homecoming but there will be a "StayHomecoming" (EB White weeps?).

May 2020 grads get to celebrate at a special "Fifth Reunion Classes of 2015 / 2016) June 3-6. Reunion for the old farts remains June 10-13.

Nothing about sports. Nada.

---

Letter from Martha Pollack Tuesday (6/30), subject Plans to Reactivate Ithaca Campus

Dear Cornellians,



It was just over three months ago, in the wake of the emerging pandemic, that we needed to swiftly deactivate our campus and shift – mid-semester – to online instruction. Since then, the question I have been asked the most is whether we will reopen for instruction this fall. Today I am writing to tell you that the answer for our Ithaca campus is yes, we plan to have an in-person semester with hybrid instruction and opportunities for remote learning for those who cannot return.



Please note that the information in this message applies only to the Ithaca campus and Cornell AgriTech in Geneva. Given the varying impacts and progression of the virus in New York City, Cornell Tech has already announced an online-only fall semester, and Weill Cornell Medicine is developing a hybrid (part online/part in-person) fall semester. In addition, we are in the process of completing our required reopening plan for New York state. That plan will be posted and made available to the entire community once finalized, and it will provide important details beyond those contained in this message.



Today's decision builds on the incredibly hard work of the faculty, staff, and students who developed the detailed recommendations in the reactivation reports that we have previously released; the input that we received from members of our community in surveys, emails, town halls, and Assembly and Faculty Senate meetings; the thoughtful and extremely valuable insights of our Board of Trustees; the guidance that we have received from New York state; the close, ongoing interactions with local medical authorities at Cayuga Health System and the Tompkins County Health Department; and epidemiological modeling done by Cornell experts.



The key consideration in our decision to reopen is public health, and so I would like to take a moment to explain, in particular, the findings of the epidemiological modeling. The analysis, done by Operations Research and Information Engineering Professor Peter Frazier and his team, showed that residential instruction, when coupled with a robust virus screening program of the form we intend to implement, is a better option for protecting the public health of our community than a purely online semester. This counterintuitive result stems from the expectation, borne out in our student surveys, that a large number of our students would choose to return to Ithaca even if we were wholly online; and they would live together and socially interact without the mandatory virus screening tests and behavioral requirements (described below) that Cornell can impose if students are enrolled as part of a residential semester.



There are, of course, limits to the predictive power of epidemiological modeling, so we will also be carefully monitoring the results of virus screening throughout the semester, and we may need to adjust our actions by, for example, tightening behavioral expectations even further, or even temporarily moving to fully online instruction for a period of time. There is simply no way to completely eliminate risk, whether we are in-person or online; even under the best-case projections, some people will become infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and some will develop the severe form of the COVID-19 disease. But, again, our analyses show that the number of people infected and/or hospitalized is likely to be markedly lower if we have an in-person, residential semester with the aforementioned screening mechanisms than if we are purely online.



Our commitment, as outlined below, is to implement a broad set of actions to minimize the risk to all members of our community, including putting in place steps to protect faculty, staff, and students with health conditions that require accommodations and special support.



Let me also speak briefly about the many ways in which the fall semester will be different, because it will be different from any semester we've experienced before. I am excited by the opportunity to have our students back with us in Ithaca, learning and sharing experiences and engaging as Cornell students. We will be offering hybrid teaching, with some classes online and some in-person. We will be developing and offering different types of co-curricular activities: ones that still allow important interactions among students, but that provide for necessary physical distancing. We will change our approach to dining on campus, offering both take-out options and physically distanced, in-person options using a reservation system. An enormous amount of work is already underway to implement all of these changes and more – changes that are mandated by public health requirements; and the work will continue over the summer so that we are ready to welcome back our students this fall.



But in addition to institutional changes, it will be critically important for each of us to adjust our individual behavior. Until there is an effective vaccine for COVID-19, we will live in a world of significantly enhanced community and personal health risks. The university cannot eliminate those risks, even with the best of planning. We can, however, work together to reduce those risks, and I am asking all of our returning Cornell community to adopt a culture of shared responsibility for our safety and well-being. That will necessitate behaving, both on campus and off campus, in ways that at times will be difficult and may feel constrained, but are crucial both for Cornell and for the greater community in which we live. I will be calling on all of us – students (and their parents), faculty, and staff – to help ensure that every person behaves in ways that are responsible and caring.



I hope that you will take the time to read the rest of this message carefully, as it provides further details about many aspects of the fall semester. I recognize that this long-awaited information will spur numerous questions. Next week, we will announce a series of town hall meetings for faculty, staff, students, parents, and members of the broader Ithaca community where we will do our best to answer those questions. We ask for your patience, as not only are many of the details still being worked out, but also we may need to adjust our plans even before the semester starts depending on the progress of the virus. We will, of course, continue to share with you additional details and updates, via email communications as well as through our COVID-19 website, as they become available over the coming weeks as we continue the important work of preparing for the fall.



With the above considerations as our guide, here, then, are the major elements of our plan, organized as follows:

• 2020-21 Academic Calendar
• Classes and Academic Activities
• Virus Screening Program
• Behavior Modifications
• Modifications to Residential and Student Life
• International Students
• Campus De-Densification (Remote Work/Travel/Visitors)


2020-21 Academic Calendar



Fall Semester
Residential instruction for the Ithaca campus fall semester will begin on Wednesday, September 2. Detailed instructions and other information regarding New Student Orientation and move-in days will be provided over the coming weeks. Move-in will take place over an extended period, to allow for virus screening and initial quarantine of all students.



In order to mitigate the risks of students leaving Ithaca and then returning from many different places, students will return to their permanent residences for Thanksgiving break (the last day of on-campus classes will be Tuesday, November 24) and finish the semester with just a few weeks of classes and final exams online. On-campus accommodations will be available to those students who request and receive waivers to remain in student housing. The final day of the fall term will be on Monday, December 21.



Spring Semester
Following a longer-than-usual winter break, the spring semester will begin on Tuesday, February 9, 2021 and conclude on Tuesday, May 25. Our plan at this point is to have a full residential spring semester, though we might have to adjust our planning depending on pandemic conditions at the time.



Commencements
Also pending the progression of the pandemic, Commencement festivities for the Class of '21 will be held over Memorial Day weekend, Saturday-Sunday, May 29-30, 2021. This is unchanged from our pre-pandemic planning.



Our plan is for December 2020 graduates to celebrate their Commencement with the Class of '21 on Memorial Day weekend.



And we are planning to have our postponed June 2020 Commencement celebration for the Class of '20 during a special 5th Reunion weekend, June 3-6, 2021, hosted by young alumni classes of 2015 and 2016.



We will share with you the full 2020-21 academic calendar over the coming weeks.



Classes and Academic Activities



We will be modifying our approach to classroom teaching to offer two primary modalities: all online; and in-person, with remote accessibility into the classroom for students who are off-campus (national or international) or in quarantine. Faculty also will have the option of embracing a hybrid approach where some elements of a course are delivered online and others in-person, or where student cohorts take turns participating remotely versus in-person. Students will be provided with information in advance about the modality of each class and can use that information in selecting their courses.



In classrooms, all students will be required to wear face masks and to sit in assigned seats; classroom capacity will be reduced; seats will have appropriate distances between them; and faculty will be required to wear masks or face shields. In-person enrollment caps will be strictly enforced, and student organizations will not be permitted to begin booking classroom space until late September or October.



As noted above, we are committed to putting in place steps to protect students, faculty and staff with health conditions necessitating accommodations and other special support.



Virus Screening Program



A robust virus screening program will be critical to controlling the spread of COVID-19 in our community. More details around this testing program will be provided over the coming weeks, but the protocol will include screening prior to and upon arrival to campus, and ongoing, frequent screening, with isolation/quarantine/contact tracing as needed. Our goal will be to identify infected individuals and quickly isolate them and those with whom they had close contact. Compliance with the testing program will be an absolute requirement for all students, whether living in on-campus housing or in the local Ithaca community.



Behavior Modifications



There are a number of public health measures that can significantly reduce the spread of infections. It will be important for all members of our campus community to be aware of and follow critical, public health-driven behavioral expectations around the wearing of masks, physical distancing, daily health check-ins, hygiene/cleaning, and social gatherings. While we will be mounting a public health education campaign aimed at reinforcing these expectations among our community, it will be the responsibility of each member of our community to embrace these behavioral requirements. As noted earlier, we must establish a culture of shared responsibility, and each of us must take steps not only to protect ourselves, but also to protect others in the community. All students living on campus and in the Ithaca community will be required to sign a student behavioral agreement.



Modifications to Residential and Student Life



On-campus housing will be limited to singles and double occupancy rooms, and a shared commitment to health and safety behaviors will be added to residential agreements. Bathrooms will be monitored in order to reduce the number of people sharing. While kitchenettes and lounges will remain open, they will have visible, public health-focused signage and physical distancing markings throughout.



Consistent with New York state guidelines for dining, and to ensure proper physical distancing, all dining halls will provide to-go service, and tables will be properly spaced, with overall sanitation an utmost priority. In-person dining options will be available using a reservation system.



The university will be suspending in-person concerts and lectures that involve outside guests. And we will promote innovative approaches to socializing while distancing.



International Students



Our international students have experienced numerous challenges due to their immigration status and location. Sadly, we recognize that because of ongoing travel restrictions and visa processing delays, many international students will not be able to return to Ithaca this fall. To accommodate these students, we have worked with academic partners at more than a dozen locations worldwide to create an on-site, in-residence Study Away option for eligible international students. These international students will live and study at a local campus in their country or region while taking a mix of online and in-person classes. They will share co-curricular activities with their Cornell peers and have access to local facilities and services.



Campus De-Densification



The successful implementation of our plan will depend on new approaches aimed at keeping our campus from becoming too densely populated beyond our core community of faculty, staff, and students. To that end:



Remote Work
Even when cleared to return to campus, individuals who can work effectively while remote should continue to do so.



Campus Visitors
Visits to campus by individuals not part of the residential Cornell community are strongly discouraged and will be significantly restricted, at least through the fall semester. Further details regarding a campus visitor policy will be forthcoming. While we cannot hold an in-person Homecoming this year, we will soon be sharing information about a special StayHomecoming virtual celebration. Campus tours for prospective students and their families will continue to be virtual.



Travel
All non-essential business travel will be prohibited. We will be developing detailed guidance to assist the planning of personal and essential business travelers, particularly on steps to be taken upon their return to campus. Travel is also likely to continue to be highly regulated by New York state. The university will work to support the local quarantine requirements imposed by the state on travelers from states with high infection rates, including students who will be arriving for the fall semester.




In one of the first messages that I sent to the Cornell community about this pandemic, I likened our situation to a bad hand of bridge: We can't change the hand we've been dealt, but we can decide how to play that hand. I believe that our plan, informed by our reopening committees and based on scientific analysis, is the best possible way to play the hand this pandemic has dealt us. But we have to play it together: All of us will need to be vigilant, and to make decisions about our activities each day that are rooted in shared concern for community well-being. Our experiences over the coming months will also depend, in large measure, on the patience and kindness with which we treat each other and ourselves. The year ahead will be different, it will be difficult, but it will, I believe, still be a year to treasure – a year of exploration and discovery, a year of friendship, and of growth. I look forward with all of you to the return of our students, and to finding new ways to learn, teach, and move forward – despite the challenges – together.



Best,



Martha

our analyses show that the number of people infected and/or hospitalized is likely to be markedly lower if we have an in-person, residential semester with the aforementioned screening mechanisms than if we are purely online.

That should be a fun class action law suit.

"If we go all online your kids will still come here and then drink and fuck all day, so instead we're opening campus so they will have to spend at least some of that time studying."

Not sure that's going to fly when the bodies start piling up.

I've been witness to 30+ years of college students behaviors, if the administration believes for one second that the signing of a behavioral contract will make a difference then they have lost their way. This is all about the money (or lack thereof). How expensive will it be if they "have" to shutdown again ? Cornell's arm doesn't reach out into C-Town as it relates to students non criminal behavior. I truly hope this plan works, but all common sense says it's a failure waiting to happen

if they can make it fly then cornell is out hundreds of millions and most people lose their jobs.

its not like huge numbers of kids are not around the city right now..

add in that the kids at school will be getting tested, the kids at home will not.

They definitely can reach into collegetown to act regarding non-criminal behavior if it involves a breach of a compact voluntarily signed as a condition of enrollment. The devil is in the details, however, when it comes to the reality of trying to enforce such an agreement. If the sanction is being sent home away from Cornell and friends, it might work.

President of Lafayette Alison Byerly on SiriusXM PotusPressPool chaneel (124) said the same thing: students on campus, under the watchful eye of the college, will have a lower incidence of infected people than if they stayed home and studied online.

billhoward
President of Lafayette Alison Byerly on SiriusXM PotusPressPool chaneel (124) said the same thing: students on campus, under the watchful eye of the college, will have a lower incidence of infected people than if they stayed home and studied online.

I can see a lawsuit in 2025 over one of the frat boys who occasionally gets wedged in a chimney.

Parent: "You should have protected my dead kid better."

College: "There was nothing we could do and that isn't our job."

Parent: "If I may direct you to the following exhibit..."

College: "Oh, shit."

Does anyone really believe that they will be able to pull this off ? A little over two weeks out and they still have no official plan for how to move the kids onto campus and how to achieve quarantine requirements that align with NYS/CDC requirements.

Fwiw, Penn has also invited all students back to campus.
Philly has had a much higher incidence of Covid-19 than Ithaca. Ithaca has had relatively few cases & no deaths to date.

Colgate (where my son is entering as a freshman) is requiring all students to arrive on campus having a negative Coronavirus test within 10 days of arrival. Parents are not allowed in the dorms during move-in. The students then will be tested again within 2 days of arrival, and all students must quarantine for 14 days. All meals during that period will be delivered to the rooms.

Virtually all Colgate students live on campus or in Greek housing (which are subject to the same rules) and all students must sign a pledge to comply with the requirements before arrival. And, Hamilton is a much smaller community than Ithaca.

My point here is that as difficult as it it will be for a place like Colgate to pull it off, I don’t see how a much larger school like Cornell in a substantially larger community will be able to make a go of it. And schools like Penn or Columbia? Forget about it.

scoop85
Virtually all Colgate students live on campus or in Greek housing (which are subject to the same rules) and all students must sign a pledge to comply with the requirements before arrival. And, Hamilton is a much smaller community than Ithaca.

No predictions in my future...

For the official eLynah record, RPI is not allowing any Greek residential living this fall and has commandeered an apartment building purpose built for Hudson Valley Community College.

Long live the Queen.

If they do the testing as they say they will they can make it happen.. how they do the testing who knows.

Plans were to be full on saliva pool testing to save money and increase capacity. still havent seen signs of that.
Cornell has a big med college, maybe they have plans to send tests to NYC on the bus and back every day for turn around.

Wow, it will be weird to see Colgate students test negative for things.

French Rage
Wow, it will be weird to see Colgate students test negative for things.

Cheap shot. That or we're jealous you get there first.

Cop at Lynah
Does anyone really believe that they will be able to pull this off ? A little over two weeks out and they still have no official plan for how to move the kids onto campus and how to achieve quarantine requirements that align with NYS/CDC requirements.

It's like that everywhere. Two family members are in academia. They find the situation is fluid. Part of the uncertainty is not knowing what rules the governor will set / change between now and Aug. 20 or whenever move-in day is.

marty
For the official eLynah record, RPI is not allowing any Greek residential living this fall and has commandeered an apartment building purpose built for Hudson Valley Community College.

Long live the Queen.

Oh my! She's really ready for high office in the nascent American State.

French Rage
Wow, it will be weird to see Colgate students test negative for things.

We would also have accepted Brown* or Dartmouth.

You magnificent bastard.

*Brown's tests will be Pass/Fail.

upprdeck
If they do the testing as they say they will they can make it happen.. how they do the testing who knows.

Plans were to be full on saliva pool testing to save money and increase capacity. still havent seen signs of that.
Cornell has a big med college, maybe they have plans to send tests to NYC on the bus and back every day for turn around.

[cornellsun.com]

Frazier: Number one, those who live in Ithaca and are associated with Cornell are actually extraordinarily lucky in that there is a very large ability to do [polymerase chain reaction] tests, the chemical reaction used for doing testing for the presence of the virus. There’s a large capability to do that in the Vet School. That exists in order to do testing for dairy cows and other animals in order to control outbreaks in that population. But it can be repurposed. There’s a whole bunch of complicated regulatory stuff that we could talk about, but that can be repurposed to provide testing for our community. And that’s a thing that most other universities don’t have access to.

Any truth to the statement that the Cayuga Medical Center only has one ventilator and they got it from the Cornell Vet School?

I doubt that the vet school ventilator story is true since earlier this spring they were transferring hospitalized patients to CMC from NYC.

David Harding

upprdeck
If they do the testing as they say they will they can make it happen.. how they do the testing who knows.

Plans were to be full on saliva pool testing to save money and increase capacity. still havent seen signs of that.
Cornell has a big med college, maybe they have plans to send tests to NYC on the bus and back every day for turn around.

[cornellsun.com]

Frazier: Number one, those who live in Ithaca and are associated with Cornell are actually extraordinarily lucky in that there is a very large ability to do [polymerase chain reaction] tests, the chemical reaction used for doing testing for the presence of the virus. There’s a large capability to do that in the Vet School. That exists in order to do testing for dairy cows and other animals in order to control outbreaks in that population. But it can be repurposed. There’s a whole bunch of complicated regulatory stuff that we could talk about, but that can be repurposed to provide testing for our community. And that’s a thing that most other universities don’t have access to.

Ag School not so funny anymore!

Scersk '97

David Harding

upprdeck
If they do the testing as they say they will they can make it happen.. how they do the testing who knows.

Plans were to be full on saliva pool testing to save money and increase capacity. still havent seen signs of that.
Cornell has a big med college, maybe they have plans to send tests to NYC on the bus and back every day for turn around.

[cornellsun.com]

Frazier: Number one, those who live in Ithaca and are associated with Cornell are actually extraordinarily lucky in that there is a very large ability to do [polymerase chain reaction] tests, the chemical reaction used for doing testing for the presence of the virus. There’s a large capability to do that in the Vet School. That exists in order to do testing for dairy cows and other animals in order to control outbreaks in that population. But it can be repurposed. There’s a whole bunch of complicated regulatory stuff that we could talk about, but that can be repurposed to provide testing for our community. And that’s a thing that most other universities don’t have access to.

Ag School not so funny anymore!

vetschool is part of ag school? (serious question)

abmarks

Scersk '97

David Harding

upprdeck
If they do the testing as they say they will they can make it happen.. how they do the testing who knows.

Plans were to be full on saliva pool testing to save money and increase capacity. still havent seen signs of that.
Cornell has a big med college, maybe they have plans to send tests to NYC on the bus and back every day for turn around.

[cornellsun.com]

Frazier: Number one, those who live in Ithaca and are associated with Cornell are actually extraordinarily lucky in that there is a very large ability to do [polymerase chain reaction] tests, the chemical reaction used for doing testing for the presence of the virus. There’s a large capability to do that in the Vet School. That exists in order to do testing for dairy cows and other animals in order to control outbreaks in that population. But it can be repurposed. There’s a whole bunch of complicated regulatory stuff that we could talk about, but that can be repurposed to provide testing for our community. And that’s a thing that most other universities don’t have access to.

Ag School not so funny anymore!

vetschool is part of ag school? (serious question)

No

I spent a year in the Ag school and nobody's letting me poke around their animals especially since the court order.

Trotsky
I spent a year in the Ag school and nobody's letting me poke around their animals especially since the court order.

Cue the "animal husbandry" jokes.

student getting tested twice a week should be interesting.. I wonder how often the staff will get tested

upprdeck
student getting tested twice a week should be interesting.. I wonder how often the staff will get tested

They pretty consistently say testing the whole Cornell community.

The Profs dont even know what that means yet..

dag14
I doubt that the vet school ventilator story is true since earlier this spring they were transferring hospitalized patients to CMC from NYC.

So does that mean they actually have no ventilators?

French Rage
Any truth to the statement that the Cayuga Medical Center only has one ventilator and they got it from the Cornell Vet School?

In March CMC said they had 25 ventilators. [ithacavoice.com]

abmarks

Scersk '97

David Harding

upprdeck
If they do the testing as they say they will they can make it happen.. how they do the testing who knows.

Plans were to be full on saliva pool testing to save money and increase capacity. still havent seen signs of that.
Cornell has a big med college, maybe they have plans to send tests to NYC on the bus and back every day for turn around.

[cornellsun.com]

Frazier: Number one, those who live in Ithaca and are associated with Cornell are actually extraordinarily lucky in that there is a very large ability to do [polymerase chain reaction] tests, the chemical reaction used for doing testing for the presence of the virus. There’s a large capability to do that in the Vet School. That exists in order to do testing for dairy cows and other animals in order to control outbreaks in that population. But it can be repurposed. There’s a whole bunch of complicated regulatory stuff that we could talk about, but that can be repurposed to provide testing for our community. And that’s a thing that most other universities don’t have access to.

Ag School not so funny anymore!

vetschool is part of ag school? (serious question)

Be part of the Johnson College of Business if vets earned on par with doctors.

I wonder if the saliva test approval helps cornell. more tests even faster/cheaper would be a good thing if they can take advantage of it.

[apple.news]

Attached video in the article is an interview regarding Cornell and testing.

Trotsky

our analyses show that the number of people infected and/or hospitalized is likely to be markedly lower if we have an in-person, residential semester with the aforementioned screening mechanisms than if we are purely online.

That should be a fun class action law suit.

"If we go all online your kids will still come here and then drink and fuck all day, so instead we're opening campus so they will have to spend at least some of that time studying."

Not sure that's going to fly when the bodies start piling up.

So far, so good. COVID-19 Dashboard

George64

Trotsky

our analyses show that the number of people infected and/or hospitalized is likely to be markedly lower if we have an in-person, residential semester with the aforementioned screening mechanisms than if we are purely online.

That should be a fun class action law suit.

"If we go all online your kids will still come here and then drink and fuck all day, so instead we're opening campus so they will have to spend at least some of that time studying."

Not sure that's going to fly when the bodies start piling up.

So far, so good. COVID-19 Dashboard

Hell of a lot better than many of the schools here in PA.

Still want to see every college measured also in cases per thousand undergrads, as well as total cases.

Unfair to lump TOSU at 46,000 undergrads to SUNY Buffalo with 22,000.

I'd say undergrad population not total because you expect grad students to be less dense about this.

Cornell’s so far successful COVID efforts highlighted on GMA. Unfortunately, not commercial-free.

Bloomberg.com on Cornell’s COVID success to date. LGR

How Cornell is getting it done. And in case you’ve missed Anthony Fauci, MD ‘66, here he is with Kate Snow, ‘91.

George64
Bloomberg.com on Cornell’s COVID success to date. LGR

“Because it takes a small group of idiots to create a big problem.” I'll work to translate this into Latin in case there's a new motto contest for something.

SUNY goes fully online after Thanksgiving.

No word on whether Cornell will be as intelligent and responsible as SUNY Cobleskill.

Cornell's goes remote learning only as of Nov. 23. That decision was made very early on.

Cop at Lynah
Cornell's goes remote learning only as of Nov. 23. That decision was made very early on.

Great way to backload all the cases onto Em and Pee back home. I am impressed, as always, by Day Hall's malevolence.

Why do you think this? Look at the numbers.. the kids are actually being much better than the staff so far. And this is only the staff getting tested for work.. I am sure there are staff getting sick not baked into the numbers since they are working remotely.. if we were testing the staff at the same rate it might look really bad for them.

The goal was to get them home before the weather got bad in the cold states and now with 3 weeks left they might make it.

upprdeck
The goal was to get them home before the weather got bad in the cold states and now with 3 weeks left they might make it.

I thought the goal was to avoid having kids go home for Thanksgiving and come back again with a bunch of new infections. At some point they have to go home at the end of the semester, but at least you can avoid an extra roundtrip in November/December.

jtwcornell91

upprdeck
The goal was to get them home before the weather got bad in the cold states and now with 3 weeks left they might make it.

I thought the goal was to avoid having kids go home for Thanksgiving and come back again with a bunch of new infections. At some point they have to go home at the end of the semester, but at least you can avoid an extra roundtrip in November/December.

Correct. One of many reasons that so many of us are grateful for your continued interest in eLynah.

MBA students cause recent COVID-19 spike at Cornell

Cornell University officials say 63 students tested positive for COVID-19 over the past three days and attributed most of the positive cases to MBA students who attended St. Patrick’s Day social gatherings.

A letter from Cornell President Martha Pollack and Provost Michael Kotlikoff stated there were at least two St. Patrick’s day gatherings where many MBA students did not wear masks and follow social distancing measures in the university’s behavioral compact.

The Johnson School MBA program will move to remote instruction for at least one week, according to the letter. In addition, all MBA students are told to only leave their residences for food and testing, to get tested every other day, and to cooperate with contact tracing and isolation/quarantine directives.

Here’s the link to D&C article


Posted by: RichH last year

“Because it takes a small group of idiots to create a big problem.” I'll work to translate this into Latin in case there's a new motto contest for something.

Here’s the link to the CU COVID dashboard

St. Patrick’s day was March 17 - doesn’t take an epidemiologist to to figure this out!

Of course it was MBAs. We don't have a Divinity School.