CORVALLIS, Ore. — This week, Oregon State students learned their mostly online education is going continue into winter term, which means an already quiet campus life is going to stay quiet for the next few months.
Jack Imelio is a senior studying business management. He said he didn’t see his last year of college going the way it has so far. He said campus life is pretty much non-existent right now, as a majority of classes are being taught remotely.
“Campus is pretty much empty since there is only 10% of classes are on campus, so you don’t see anyone on campus, minus the people at the dorms," said Imelio.
Steve Clark, vice president of student affairs at Oregon State University, said the school decided to extend remote learning into winter term because of increasing rates of COVID-19. As of Tuesday, there had been 47 students who tested positive in Corvallis.
“The prevalence to the virus in Oregon, in Benton County, where Corvallis is located, and where the Cascade campus is in Central Oregon are not changing,” said Clark.
There will be more changes students see when Pac-12 football resumes next month. One will be a quieter Reser Stadium. That’s because the university announced they won’t be allowing band members or cheer members this year. The school will also not allow any fans inside the stadium this season, to help stop the spread of the virus.
It's a strange reality right for students and staff, but Clark said while it was a tough decision, it was the right choice at this time.