Leading By Example

Morehouse College is setting the standard on how higher education institutions should go about combating the pandemic.

One year ago this month, the world changed forever. In March 2020, the world went into quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A year ago, there was much uncertainty as to how long the pandemic would last. Normal things that people did everyday were permanently changed. One of the biggest changes occurred in higher education. College and university campuses, once filled with students and faculty were empty. School administrators, faculty and students had to learn the world of remote instruction. In this new world, instead of running from class to class, students went from jumping from zoom call to zoom call.

Once the magnitude of the pandemic set in, the mere idea that schools would allow students back on campus would be considered a far-fetched pipe dream for the time. However, once local, state, and the country’s leadership got a better understanding on how to combat the virus, the return of students to college campuses became more of a reality. The challenge for university and college leaders centered on how they could have college students return to campus and attend classes in a safe manner.

In December 2020, Morehouse College (“Morehouse”) announced that it would welcome back a limited number of students back to campus. The college communicated to its students that in order to ensure the safety of the students and the faculty, there would be serious rules set in place to limit the spread of the virus.

Before arriving on campus, students were required to take and pass a COVID-19 test. Once the students arrived, they were required to take another COVID-19 test. Once they passed that test, they had to enter a three-day quarantine isolation period. Morehouse referred to the process as “Pause and Prepare,” so that students could prepare for the upcoming semester while also quarantining.

Once the Pause and Prepare period ended, the students were still required to take a COVID-19 test every three days. Students were also required to fill out a virtual symptom check-in sheet. Without the completed check-in sheet, students were unable to access certain parts of campus. Masks were mandatory throughout all buildings, and students were prohibited from going to other neighboring campuses.

As of the writing of this article, Morehouse has reported zero infected students. At first glance, this may seem to be a small accomplishment. However, Morehouse is in the state of Georgia, and in its most populated city, Atlanta. According to data collected by the New York Times, Georgia is listed as one of the states that has the highest number of reported COVID-19 cases to go along with a high infection rate.

With those statewide statistics, having students on campus would have brought the likelihood of having a breakout much more likely. However, Morehouse is setting the standard for how to operate a safe on-campus higher learning institution during these times. Consider the numbers at another college in the state of Georgia, the University of Georgia (“UGA”). Even though UGA has a considerably larger student body than Morehouse, it reported “51 COVID-19 cases over the week of February 22–28 which was a decrease from the 68 cases from the week before. Again, Morehouse has had zero cases. Since the start of 2021, UGA reported 1,300 positive cases, and since the start of the pandemic, UGA reported 6,604 positive cases.”

The fact that the college has not had any positive tests since it opened, is a testament to the well laid plans of Morehouse’s leadership. Each day, Aramark workers come to the dorms and sanitize all door knobs and bathrooms. Additionally, Morehouse students are not required to be on campus 24 hours a day. Instead, they are able to come and go as they please. They are, however, required to take a temperature reading and respond to procedure COVID questions every time they re-enter the campus.

This past week, Morehouse announced that it will be fully open in the fall. Given the effectiveness of this semester’s re-opening, Morehouse has a solid framework in place to ensure that its students can safely return to campus. There will certainly be challenges and periods of uncertainty given the potential for spikes in the number of positive cases. So there will certainly be changes to the current plan. However, Morehouse’s leadership has demonstrated the ability to handle any issues that arise.

Morehouse can also serve as a leading example for other higher education institutions who are looking for a way to effectively re-open, prevent the spread of the virus, and educate its students. Morehouse’s plan, which consisted of regular testing, cleaning, expanded remote instruction, and limited contact with those outside of the campus, has been shown to work. Moving forward, other colleges and universities can look to the precedent set by Morehouse on how they should handle re-opening and/or the return of their students to their campuses.

Miles Rajesh Arthur is Junior Communications Major from Washington D.C studying at Morehouse College.