With President Greg Crawford’s announcement that Miami University would proceed with its phased-in return to campus, members of the class of 2024 had mixed feelings about starting their college experience.
Miami University will continue to offer most first-year transition and engagement events online through the fall semester. With in-person classes set to begin Sept. 21, the university will enforce social distancing guidelines and other COVID-19 regulations. To that end, campus events designed to integrate first-years into the Miami community will be held virtually.
Like most buildings on campus, MacMillan Hall, home to International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS), has seen little to no student traffic for the past few months since Miami University transitioned to remote learning — and it may stay that way throughout the semester.
President Crawford announced in an email this morning that Miami is going forward with the plans to bring students back to in-person and hybrid classes beginning Sept. 21 and will begin residence hall move-in Sept. 14. Students quickly reacted to the news with mixed sentiments.
Miami University will return to in-person classes as planned on Sept. 21, wrote President Greg Crawford in a university-wide email, with residence hall move-in beginning next week.
The Oxford Police Department (OPD) issued six civil citations to Miami University students for violation of Oxford’s mass gathering ban on Sept. 5. At least five of the cited students were under quarantine protocols for COVID-19 at the time of the incident.
The Miami University Police Department (MUPD) has changed the wording on its sexual assault safety bulletins to include anti-victim blaming language.
The President’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) task force publicly released its recommendations to President Greg Crawford and the Miami community on Sept. 3.
With plans of in-person classes inching closer, Miami University has rolled out a wide-net and surveillance COVID-19 testing plan to test more than 3,000 individuals each week.
At yesterday's University Senate meeting, Miami University Provost Jason Osborne said “no decision has been made,” in regard to a return to in-person classes on Sept. 21, as Miami faces at least a $50 million revenue decline for the semester.
Students who were accepted into Miami University’s Scholar Leader Community are being forced to withdraw their acceptance unless they commit to living in the program’s designated dorms come September, according to the director of the Harry T. Wilks Center for Leadership and Service, Eric Buller, and several students involved in the program.
As a result of Miami University’s late July announcement that the first five weeks of instruction would be online, many students — mostly sophomores — chose to be released from their housing and meal contracts and find housing off-campus.
Geography and Western Program professor Dr. Hays Cummins had been a stable presence in the department of geography since 1988, but due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, Cummins decided to retire.
But delays in the United States Postal Service (USPS)— especially as they relate to the upcoming presidential election — are only worsening students’ anxiety about what the future holds.
In an email sent to all members of Miami University's Greek community on Aug. 29, the Interfraternity Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and Panhellenic Association detailed a new 10-day shelter-in-place order for all Greek Oxford residents as a way to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
At last Thursday’s Meet the B-Frats event, one of the major recruiting events for Miami University’s business fraternities, a hacker seized hosting controls of the Zoom call and took over Pi Sigma Epsilon’s (PSE) presentation with an image of a swastika, verbal threats and homophobic and racist pre-recorded audio.
Last Sunday, Miami University’s virtual Mega Fair offered students intimate video call opportunities to chat with the members of more than 600 student organizations. The event lasted three hours and also included Miami’s regional campus organizations.
Geno Svec, executive director of campus services and chief hospitality officer, wrote in an email to The Miami Student that the university made the decision to eliminate the sharing of items like bills and coins that are easily spread and difficult to clean.
OPD Lieutenant Lara Fening said the department hasn’t issued any gathering ban citations in an effort to let community members become informed of the new regulations before penalizing them. Fening also said that issuing citations is at the officers’ discretion.
As the Talawanda School District (TSD) geared up for a virtual start to the school year on Monday, Aug. 24, students and parents were hopeful for a speedy return to normalcy.