CORONAVIRUS

Bradley enacts all-student quarantine to quell rising COVID-19 cases

Staff Writer
Journal Star
The statue of Bradley University founder Lydia Moss Bradley stands in front of Bradley Hall.

PEORIA — With more than 50 confirmed COVID-19 cases and hundreds in quarantine, Bradley University is shifting to remote learning for at least two weeks.

According to an email sent out to the campus, BU President Stephen Standifird said the concern also was about 500 people in the student body of roughly 5,000 who now are in quarantine due to possible exposure.

“Bradley is temporarily moving to a remote learning environment and enacting an all-student quarantine for two weeks. This means all students will be required to quarantine in their residence hall, Greek house, St. James apartment, off-campus apartment or house for the next two weeks, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m. through 7 a.m. Sept. 23,” read the beginning of a lengthy email that outlined how the quarantine would work.

If enough improvement isn’t seen, school officials could opt to move to remote learning for the remainder of the semester, Standifird stated. A decision on that is expected by Sept. 21.

Staff, Standifird said, are to “continue to work as you are. If you are currently working remotely, you will remain remote. If you are currently working on campus, you will continue working on campus.”

Faculty were to work remotely if possible but would have access to the campus if wanted.

“Our concern is because of these cases and clusters, as well as our rigorous quarantine protocols, we have more than 500 students in quarantine at this time. And through contact tracing, we continue to identify more students who may be impacted, which means more students in quarantine,” Standifird wrote.

“Although it may seem extreme, this move to temporary remote learning and a two-week, all-student quarantine allows us to focus on the continuity of the educational experience for all of our students while giving us time to gather data on the full extent of the spread of the virus and assess the best way to proceed as a community,” the president said in his email.

Standifird reminded students that failing to abide by university-issued restrictions could result in disciplinary action, up to dismissal from the school.