Hampshire College stopped accepting students last year but it’s a different story for the Fall 2020 semester.
“As long as the State of Massachusetts allows colleges to open” Hampshire College will continue to stay open.
According to a post on the school’s website, college president Ed Wingenbach wrote that social distancing is “viable” on their campus. An 800-acre campus can handle the additional 50 students that Hampshire will enroll.
The college has “surplus housing for quarantine or isolation if necessary,” according to president Wingenbach. Hampshire dorms allow students to be in a room on their own.
“Thankfully we have had no confirmed cases among students on campus this spring,” he added, “and we instituted protocols to support a small number of quarantined students as they awaited test results.”
The college offered COVID-19 testing to students on campus in the spring and will offer antibody testing in the fall to ease concerns.
By summer, the school plans to offer same-day testing and results for both infection and antibodies, Wingenbach said.
Hampshire College has worked with the University of Massachusetts Amherst Health Services to provide telehealth medical services and counseling for students and staff.
“Altogether, Hampshire’s circumstances are ideal to open safely in the fall and maximize community health,” Wingenbach wrote. “If we are unable to open, I cannot imagine any college will.”
Sources: https://www.wbur.org/edify/2020/05/08/hampshire-college-re-open-fall, https://www.amherstbulletin.com/HampshirePlans-hg-050720-34296100
