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Colleges Plan For COVID-19 On Campus

Colleges plan for reopening during the pandemic. [Credit: AN NGUYEN / shutterstock]
Colleges plan for reopening during the pandemic. [Credit: AN NGUYEN / shutterstock]

Last week, the New York Times reported that there have been at least 6,300 coronavirus cases been linked to 270 colleges across the country. And that's only information from the schools that responded to their request for data... missing is the data from thousands of campuses across the country. 

A few notable outbreaks that have occured this summer:
-136 residents tested postitive on Greek Row at the University of Washington
-449 cases at the University of Texas
-47 cases of football players and other athletes at Clemson University in South Carolina
-41 construction workers tested positive at Appalachian State in North Carolina

These outbreaks happened all before schools fully reopen this fall. We wanted to know more about COVID's spread on college campuses, so The Sound of Ideas Rick Jackson spoke with Danielle Ivory, Investigative Reporter for The New York Times on Friday about her story. 

Their research also showed reported cases in Ohio universities: at Toledo, Dayton, Ohio University, Ohio State University, and Shawnee State; but only 20 cases combined.

With that in mind, we checked to hear how 'one' local college is planning to keep students safe as dorms fill up, and the fall semester begins in a few weeks. We'll hear from Dr. Manfred van Dulmen, PhD, Chair of Kent State University's Reopening Steering Committee. He's also the interim associate provost for academic affairs, and interim dean of graduate studies. 

Another hard hit department on campus by the pandemic is athletics. We spoke with Michelle Morgan, Senior Director of Athletics and Receration, John Carrol University about how athletes will be affected this fall. 

We also discussed Operation Legend with Justin Herdman, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

-Justin Herdman, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio
-Danielle Ivory, Investigative Reporter, The New York Times 
-Dr. Manfred van Dulmen, PhD, Chair, Reopening Steering Committee, Interim Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Interim Dean of Graduate Studies, Kent State University

-Michelle Morgan, Senior Director of Athletics and Receration, John Carrol University

Rachel is the supervising producer for Ideastream Public Media’s morning public affairs show, the “Sound of Ideas.”