By By: Kate Luce
Co-Editor-in-Chief
The fall semester of 2021 won’t look like the fall semester of 2020.
IU President, Michael A. McRobbie, announced that all IU campuses will go back to in-person learning in the fall 2021 semester on Feb. 24. However, much still has to be done until students, faculty and staff can expect campuses to return to normalcy.
This announcement has been brought to light after IU confirmed that all campuses will host an in-person commencement this spring.
In McRobbie’s statement, he stated that while classes will be in-person, students are asked to abide by IU’s mask and COVID-19 testing requirements. These requirements will allow for academic and creative activities for all campuses.
“This decision has been made on the basis of advice from IU’s medical and public health experts who have been leading the university’s comprehensive and successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic for nearly a year now,” McRobbie said in his mass email.
His email helps praise the IU-wide mitigation testing as one of the key factors in slowing the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 cases are “very low and manageable,” according to McRobbie. In addition, McRobbie said that percent positivity rates are below 1% IU-wide.
IU South Bend’s positivity rate fell to 0%, as of Feb. 24. The prior week, IU South Bend had a prior rate of 0.6%.
While students, faculty and staff take part in weekly testing, the university is advocating for anyone eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine to receive one.
Ultimately, the state of the pandemic in the future will determine if this announcement stays true.
