Our Weekend Roundup is released on Sunday mornings during the school year and features an engaging rundown of the news from the previous week in the form of a briefing. It also includes editors’ picks from other sections. Subscribe here to receive emails like this.
Stanford administrators announced on Tuesday that the University is unlikely to bring all undergraduates back to campus this fall or to delay the start of the 2020-21 school year to winter quarter.
Such “extreme” options are “the least likely of the many scenarios we are considering,” they wrote in an email to students and families. A fully remote fall quarter is possible, and hybrid options — such as allowing only two class years on campus each quarter and continuing instruction through summer — remain under consideration.
A final decision on the state of the 2020-21 school year is expected in mid-June. But administrators are already laying out a bleak portrait of a socially distanced fall, even if some or all students are allowed to return.
In addition to needing to wear face masks, students wouldn’t be allowed to share dorm rooms, and large lecture classes would “probably” not be able to be held in person, the co-chairs of the Fall Planning Task Force told students at Tuesday’s Undergraduate Senate meeting.
“None of it is desirable,” said Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Stephanie Kalfayan, a co-chair of the committee. “There’s nothing about next year that’s going to make anybody happy, quite frankly.”
After a week of virtual campaigning, students can cast their votes for next year’s Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) representatives on Monday and Tuesday. On the ballot are 31 candidates for Undergraduate Senate, 16 candidates for Graduate Student Council and just one slate for ASSU executive. Senators Martin Altenburg ’21 and Jennalei Louie ’21 dropped out of the executive race on Monday, leaving Senate Chair Munira Alimire ’22 and ASSU Executive Cabinet Co-Director of Mental Health and Wellness Vianna Vo ’21 virtually certain to clinch the top spot in Stanford’s student government.
In class-level races, the only contested campaign is for sophomore class president, where five slates are vying for the position. One of them, ’23andTree, violated ASSU campaign finance regulations by offering students a chance at winning a $100 grant if the slate was elected, according to Elections Commissioner Christian Giadolor ’21. The commission is also investigating ’23andTree for a second potential violation related to an Instagram post on the Frosh Council account.
Here’s what else is happening:
For the latest coronavirus updates, follow along with The Daily’s live blog, which includes a map of confirmed cases and a timeline of Stanford’s response to the outbreak.
Stanford Health Care has resumed elective procedures after receiving a $102 million grant through the CARES Act.
Students are calling for University accountability and faculty diversity after an assistant professor twice used the N-word, once in a lecture and days later in a course discussion post.
Fuad Shennib, a Ph.D. student at the Graduate School of Business, died at age 30 on May 2.
Stanford baseball and football alumnus Zach Hoffpauir ’16 died at age 26 on Thursday.
NCAA President Mark Emmert announced on Tuesday that there will be no uniform start date for collegiate athletics as colleges across the country determine their paths forward amid COVID-19.
If you have time today, check out one of our editors’ picks:
With ASSU elections right around the corner, The Daily Editorial Board endorsed Alimire and Vo for ASSU Executive, along with four incumbent Senators and five first-time candidates. In Satire, The Occasionally Editorial Board responded by endorsing its top three picks for Senate: Susie Brubaker-Cole, Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Persis Drell. (Voters can follow along with their campaign at @stanfordoccasionally on Instagram.)
In Arts & Life, Christine Delianne took a critical look at the light-skinned casting in Netflix’s “#BlackAF.” Roberta Gonzalez Marquez drew parallels between the Netflix miniseries “Unorthodox” and Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening.” And Omar Rafik El-Sabrout told the story of Galal’s parlor to kick off the Reads beat’s fiction series.
Here are some (virtual) events to put on your calendar this week:
Associate Vice Provost for Environmental Health and Safety Russell Furr will join Stanford Health Care Chief of Staff Megan Mahoney, San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Magee and Stanford Law School professor David Studdert for a town hall on the “new normal” on Thursday.
Have an event you’d like featured in next week’s roundup? Let us know at [email protected].
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That’s all for this roundup. Though The Daily is suspending its print edition, we’ll continue to bring you updates on coronavirus, online spring and more through our email newsletters, social media platforms and our website, stanforddaily.com.
