States across the country are going against the recommendations from the Center of Disease Control (CDC) to “re-open.” However, experts have stressed that the spread of COVID-19 in the United States is still a huge crisis. The United States has not moved as quickly and efficiently as other countries in their testing and contact tracing. 

The University of Richmond, like other colleges, has decided to also go against CDC recommendations and re-open for the fall of 2020. Asking all students to come back to school with a few restrictions. Requiring all students to return forces students and their families to take risks they are (understandably) scared about. 

The university should give students who do not feel safe coming back to campus the option to complete their Fall 2020 courses online. Since the school already planning on doing a mix of in-person and online teaching, this is not too much to ask. Allowing students who want to stay home the ability to attend classes will respect their comfort and safety boundaries; it will remove the travel component that may be a risk or barrier to attending for some. Additionally, for the students who do wish to come back, a less crowded campus will be a much safer environment for them. 

Let’s change the policy to keep our students as safe as possible!