F
IRST, THE GOOD NEWS.
Southern’s physical campus is slated to reopen for fall 2020, with classes beginning on Aug. 26, following a staggered move-in for residence hall students. Courses will be offered in a HyFlex model, a combination of onground and online courses. Public health guidelines will be followed (face coverings, class size, etc.) and, if the need arises, the university is prepared to pivot to an all online schedule. After Thanksgiving, all remaining classes and final exams for the fall semester will be held online.
12 | Southern ALUMNI MAGAZINE
The plan is a promising return to normalcy for the campus community. The first campus-wide warning came in January: an email with tips for fighting seasonal influenza included a sentence about the outbreak of a respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus identified in Wuhan, China. The news became increasingly dire in the following weeks, and, on Feb. 26, U.S. officials reported the first non-travel-related case of the illness now officially known as COVID-19. On campus, the disease’s
rapid-fire spread came to light on March 10, after a Southern student attended an event where another participant later tested positive for the virus. Southern’s physical campus was closed (initially for five days) for a deep cleaning, a process that included licensed professionals in HAZMAT suits. As of June 8, when this issue went to press, Southern’s campus has remained shuttered, following the Office of the Governor’s directives for statewide closures and the decision of the Connecticut State Universities and Colleges system.
