The University of California's 10 campuses will not fully reopen this fall semester because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to UC System President Janet Napolitano.
“I think it’s fair to say none of our campuses will fully reopen,” Napolitano said in a recent webinar. "I think what some of our campuses are exploring is a mix, where there will be some material delivered in a classroom or lab setting, so-called wet labs, and other classes will continue to be online.”
She also said that the system lost $300 million in revenue in April alone because of the pandemic, and predicted international enrollment will decline because of the Trump administration's policies that make it more difficult for international students to attend UC's schools.
"That’s created a virtual wall," said Napolitano, a former Secretary of Homeland Security under ex-President Barack Obama. "It’s unfortunate and bad policy, but that’s what we have.”
However, several other universities nationwide have said they'll reopen this fall, including Brown University, where President Christina Paxson argued that campuses can safely reopen if certain precautions are taken.
UC San Diego plans to start using rapid testing kits, and will offer to isolate students in housing to protect against the highly contagious virus.
At UC Berkeley, online courses will continue to be offered, even if in-person classes are available, reports The San Francisco Chronicle.
Napolitano said that there will also be difficulty in reopening campus housing, which would require “widespread testing [for coronavirus],” and housing set aside for infected students to quarantine.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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