The school says there will be protocols in place to guard against COVID-19.
Emmitsburg,Md (KM) This is the time of year when many high school seniors are making their choices when it comes to attending college. For those choosing Mount Saint Mary’s University, President Tim Trainor says the Mount’s campus will be fully opened this fall. “I fully expect that we’ll have all of our employees fully vaccinated, and our students vaccinated when they come back,” says Trainor.
He says Thursday, March 11th is the one-year anniversary of when he had to order Mount Saint Mary’s to be closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents students had to move out.
“We’re able to come up with our ‘Mount Safe’ plan, and we safely brought students back to campus in August for a fall semester. And they’re back here now again in our spring semester. So we’ve done well,” says Trainor.
He says the “Mount Safe” plan allows for hybrid instruction, where a small number of students attend classes, and other students take in the instruction via Zoom.
Trainor says he expects the University will reopen safely for fall, 2021. “We’ll have appropriate safety protocols as dictated by the public health situation at the time,” he says. “But I fully expect we will have students on campus ready to go in in person classes and their other activities.”
With vaccinations expected to ramp up throughout the spring and summer, it’s possible the COVID-19 virus could be brought under control over the next few months, and the pandemic will end before the year is over. . Trainor says the coronavirus could be on the decline by the time the fall, 2021 semester starts at Mount Saint Mary’s. However, measures have been put in place to keep students, faculty and staff safe this fall.
“If you’re concerned about the virus, just get vaccinated,” says Trainor. “Just look at the success that we’ve had. Many colleges and universities weren’t able to open in the fall. We did and did it successfully and are doing it again with appropriate safety protocols in place. We’ve done it all year.”
Trainor says last year, the Mount had its largest incoming freshmen class, and expects to have another large number of students attending during the fall of 2021.
By Kevin McManus