Princeton University will Wait Until July to Determine if it Can Reopen in Fall

Princeton University students are going to have to wait a little longer to find out if the school will reopen in the fall. Chris Eisgruber, Princeton University president, has flat right out called this coronavirus pandemic "a durable and damaging public health crisis that will number among American history’s greatest upheavals." Princeton University will Wait Until July to Determine if it Can Reopen in Fall

This 2,200 word letter emphasized the struggle that the school might be facing in the near future when it comes to online learning. He also said that life could be difficult for far longer than we think.

“Our collective efforts have helped to ‘flatten the curve’ of infections in New Jersey, and it is tempting to hope that we might soon vanquish the virus and return to normal,” he wrote. “Epidemiologists and public health experts tell us, however, that until we have either a vaccine or ‘herd immunity,’ the virus will continue to spread.

“We must prepare for the possibility that new outbreaks will flare in the months ahead, and we must do so when much is still unknown about the disease, its short- and long-term effects, and its treatment. We will be dealing with COVID‑19 for months or longer. This university, like all of America and the world, must proceed accordingly.”

Eisgruber is confident that graduate learning will be able to resume this summer and carry into the fall. However, undergraduate learning remains up in the air until July. Undergraduate learning is more difficult to asses given how close the students live to one another, the social gatherings, and the challenges of controlling social distancing.

“To bring back our undergraduates, we need to be confident of our ability to mitigate the health risks not only to them, but also to the faculty and staff who instruct and support them, and to the surrounding community,” he wrote.

According to ROI-NJ.com, there has even been a consideration of pushing back that start of the fall semester to January 2021.