University President Against Not Reopening in the Fall

Purdue University president Mitch Daniels opposes the idea of schools remaining closed in the fall, despite the possibility of a coronavirus resurgence.

In an opinion piece published for the Washington Post, Daniels — also the former governor of Indiana — argues that failing to reopen schools sends a misconstrued message to the university’s 45.000-student population.

“Forty-five thousand young people — the biggest student population we’ve ever had — are telling us they want to be here this fall,” Daniels write. “To tell them, ‘Sorry, we are too incompetent or too fearful to figure out how to protect your elders, so you have to disrupt your education,’ would be a gross disservice to them and a default of our responsibility.”

While there are concerns about the coronavirus, Daniels insists the campus will have substantial social distancing measures in place to ensure the safety of its students.

On-campus faculty will be reduced by a third as some will transition into remote positions. Daniels has also confirmed a total of 700 classrooms and campus laboratories will also undergo extensive changes to reduce population density. Some professors will also be teaching behind Plexiglas.

All large-enrollment courses will be offered online as well as in person, to accommodate those who cannot or choose not to come to campus, and to further reduce in-class numbers.

A total of 9,500 dormitory rooms will also be modified to decrease capacity. On Friday, the university is also offering a free, online self-study course on contact tracing.

While Daniels does acknowledge that Purdue’s tentative reopening strategy may not be a one-size-fits-all accommodation for every collegiate institute, he does believe Purdue has learned how to better combat the virus as a result of the spring shutdown.