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.
With the majority of undergraduates scattered across the country, some joined protest marches in Minneapolis and elsewhere. Past and present members of the Stanford sports community took to social media to stand against anti-Black racism, and students engaged in virtual activism. The Stanford chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha — a historically Black sorority — spearheaded fundraising efforts that have raised tens of thousands of dollars for bail funds across the country. Led by Stanford Students for Workers’ Rights, students also placed more than 1,000 phone calls to Minnesota public officials demanding the defunding of police departments.
Some virtual events have engaged with issues of police brutality and anti-Black racism as well. At a town hall on Monday, Provost Persis Drell said that Stanford has “to continue to work to address the causes of injustice, of inequity, of racial violence”: “These aren’t just societal issues, they are local issues too,” she said. On Tuesday, the Undergraduate Senate unanimously approved a resolution condemning police violence on and off campus. On Thursday, political science professor Hakeem Jefferson moderated a seminar on criminal justice reform that drew more than 1,600 attendees. And on Friday, more than 2,500 attendees attended a vigil honoring Black lives lost to police brutality and racial violence.
Undergraduates who are on campus will live only in singles and two-room doubles in order to maximize social distancing. Stanford will continue to restrict gatherings, and online instruction will remain the “default” teaching option, according to the announcement.
Additionally, fall quarter instruction for all undergrads and some grad students will begin one week early and end before Thanksgiving break in order to avoid increased travel and a potential second wave. Students who were scheduled to study abroad will no longer be able to do so, regardless of class year: Stanford has canceled all fall study away programs, marking the fourth straight quarter of coronavirus-related interruptions to such programs.
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.