PRINCETON, NJ - OCTOBER 26: Harvard Crimson quarterback Jake Smith (10) throws a pass during the ... [+]
Harvard, Yale and Princeton Universities just announced their return to campus protocol for the 2020-21 academic year. This is news for college sports fans, as it foreshadows the decision due Wednesday from its Ivy League colleagues, and provided important guidance (and a bit of peer pressure) to the rest of college sports.
“After careful deliberation and informed by extensive input from our community, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences announced plans to bring up to 40% of our undergraduates to campus, including all first-year students, for the fall semester. Assuming that we maintain 40% density in the spring semester, we would again bring back one class, and our priority at this time is to bring seniors to campus. Under this plan, first years would return home and learn remotely in the spring. We also will invite back to campus those students who may not be able to learn successfully in their current home learning environment.
“Some of the attributes that we most value about our campus are exactly the things that make adaptation to pandemic conditions particularly challenging. Our bustling urban environment, the ease of grabbing the T into Boston, our intergenerational residential communities that house 98% of our undergraduates, our global research community of students, faculty, staff, postdocs and visitors from around the world – Harvard was built for connection, not isolation.”
Shortly after this posting, the athletics department posted this tweet:
As the 40% of students returning to campus are nearly all freshmen, the Harvard guidance seems to imply a different emphasis on athletic participation. The announcement continued:
“We anticipate that the Ivy League will issue a decision on July 8 about fall sports competitions and training. Even in the absence of this guidance, we acknowledge that our medium density plan will necessarily place limits on what athletic activities are possible at Harvard this fall. An enhanced focus on wellness will be important for all members of our community. Wellness programming and resources will be developed by the Department of Athletics, Harvard Health Services’ Center for Health and Wellness, the Dean of Students Office and other partnering organizations.”
This announcement, along with decisions by Yale last week, and Princeton today, on developing a similar on campus approach, creates tremendous pressure on schools to make their decisions known. Both schools are trying to offer a “residential experience” for their entering freshmen, knowing full well that local and regional health guidelines will impact that experience dramatically.
From their webpage statement, Harvard Athletics echoed a similar sentiment, saying “Even in the absence of this guidance, we acknowledge that our medium density plan will necessarily place limits on what athletic activities are possible at Harvard this fall.... For varsity events, fans can consult the individual team schedule pages or the composite schedule page. This page will also be updated immediately as changes are confirmed.”
College sports fans should pay very close attention to the dynamics at play. It seems like a long time ago when March Madness was cancelled, but two things happened in close succession that shut down the post season tournament: The Ivy League elected not to play their conference tournament, and Duke announced they would not participate in the ACC tournament. The President at Duke, Vincent Price, is a former Provost at the University of Pennsylvania. Will history repeat itself?
