ACUOPTIMIST.COM | Monday, August 24, 2020 | 1
A student publication of Abilene Christian University since 1912
BY DAVID MITCHELL | PHOTOGRAPHER
Incoming freshmen and parents file into Wildcat Stadium for the Goodbye Blessing.
Students return to campus during COVID-19 pandemic BY OWEN SIMPSON EDITOR IN CHIEF
ACU will return to in-person instruction Monday, as the country continues to grapple the affects of COVID-19 that canceled all in-person instruction at ACU in the spring semester. The university has mandated face coverings in all buildings and outdoors when social distancing is not possible. ACU also intends to move online
following Thanksgiving break for the remainder of the semester. “ACU senior leadership is continually monitoring the rapidly changing global threat posed by the coronavirus,” the university said in a statement. Since then, protocols have been put in place if a student tests positive. If students are exposed and instructed to quarantine, each of their instructors is alerted and
the quarantined students participate in each of their classes remotely for the quarantine period. Meanwhile, if an entire class is exposed and instructed to quarantine, the class shifts to remote instruction for the quarantine period. While some activities on-campus, such as rushing, pledging and intramurals are likely to happen, the university is taking extra precautions to ensure all activities are approved
and safe for its students. ACU will provide free voluntary PCR COVID-19 testing to faculty, staff and students. There is no requirement to be tested for COVID-19, excluding student-athletes. “Departments and programs cannot require students to submit to COVID-19 testing,” Schubert said in an email Aug. 14. “Students who need testing as required by their clinical placement site
or off-campus employer may obtain testing at the ACU Medical Clinic.” The university will also host several open testing days for asymptomatic ACU faculty, staff and students who consent to be part of the approved research study. The first testing day is scheduled for Sept. 8. There have been as many as 14 active ACU-related COVID-19 cases throughout the summer. As of
Res Life creates guidelines for COVID BY DILLON DANIEL MANAGING EDITOR
BY RILEY FISHER | CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
An incoming freshman receives the key to his room in Mabee Hall.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Residence Life has put different guidelines in place for students and staff and has restructured other guidelines regarding RA’s and events. One guideline impacting Res Life is a new rule restricting visitations at all residence halls from non-residents including family members and friends from outside the halls. Lauren Carrizal, housing manager for Res Life, said one reason for the guideline is to keep students on campus for the foreseeable future. “We want to be here as long as possible. We don’t want to be sending students home in six weeks. We, unfortunately, had to make a decision where we are not allowing any visitors at all.” However, Carrizal said the biggest reason for this rule is to keep residents and
staff safe. “We created these policies to keep people safe and keep them here longer. I know there’s some people who want their friends from other halls to be able to come over, who want their boyfriend or girlfriend to come over, but there are people in these halls that are immuno-compromised and they don’t want people coming in and out of these halls [if they are not residents].” Because of this concern, Res Life staff is making changes on how to conduct their positions on staff. “We’re doing a lot of things on Zoom,” Ryan Randolph, assistant director of Res Life, said. “If we do any events in person then they will be in huge spaces, six feet apart. These changes in events for the residents has also changed how staff conducts meetings. “RD’s do a lot of community together...we would have dinners with each oth-
er, hang out and go to each other’s homes [before the pandemic], but we’re not doing that [anymore].” Students will also have to adjust how they build community and hang out with fellow residents in the residence halls. “Residents are allowed to have other friends from the building in their rooms,” Carrizal said. “Each person is allowed to have two visitors in the room between themselves and their roommate, four being the total. Masks are definitely recommended when people are visiting.” The health of students, faculty and staff is the highest priority for staff members of Res Life. Although there does not seem to be a solution to this in the foreseeable future, Randolph and Carrizal said Res Life is continually working to create different ways for residents to create community with one another during this time.
Wednesday, the university was reporting four active cases. “At ACU, our top priority has been – and will always be – the health, safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff,” Phil Schubert, president of the university, said in an email in July. “With that in mind, we have developed a plan that harnesses what we know today and provides flexibility for the fall.”
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SPORTS
Editor’s Note The world is changing. The way individuals gather their news and look to be informed has immensely changed in the first 20 years of this century alone. Because of this constant change, the Optimist, department faculty and staff and myself believe the Optimist must adapt to its audience. We are actively seeking new ways to engage and interact with our avid readers and followers. With careful consideration of our audience, we will only print four issues every school year. The first will arrive on the first day of classes, followed by a Homecoming issue. Later in the spring semester, we will have a Sing Song and graduation issue. We believe that many of our readers enjoy weekly print issues, but it is also important to continue adapting to where our audience looks for news and information. We have many exciting projects in store for our online content this school year, and we believe we can invest more time with the subtraction of weekly print issues. Some of these projects include weekly podcasts and newscasts and daily updates on social media. Be sure to follow us online at @acuoptimist on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and be sure to check out our sports content on @optimistsports. -Owen Simpson
Wildcats release partial fall schedule
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