What will fall semester look like? A poem

by Annika Holliday ‘20

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Like many of my peers, I had to make a big life decision on Friday, May 1, the annual national deadline to formally accept admission offers and submit deposits for fall term. With so many unknowns, colleges are now pushing back making a decision about the fall semester until the middle of the summer, making the college decision even more difficult. My inbox has been inundated with emails from university presidents and admission officers trying to reassure a nervous incoming first-year class, while acknowledging a harsh new reality. I thought it would be fun to curate their words into the poem below.


We understand 

that you have many questions 

as you consider your options 

for the road ahead.


Fall semester may look 

very different than it has

at any other time in our history.


The college experience

is built on the idea of lots of people 

living and learning in close quarters 

and gathering in large groups -

measures that work against any social distancing 

to fight the spread of the pandemic.


We are thinking creatively,

considering an abundance of diverse expertise,

dedicated to careful analysis.


We will explore every possible means 

to salvage the campus experience 

and minimize the destruction.


Breaking the term up 

into two seven-and-a-half-week modules.


A calendar-shifting approach 

by delaying or canceling fall semester.


Remote, online learning, 

as our last, and least preferable, option,

only if it becomes necessary and unavoidable.


We are considering -

removing door handles, 

adding more custodians, 

disinfecting the environment, 

expecting students to clean up after themselves.


Opening will be a process

a couple of years 

to find a new normal.


Here’s the (sad) reality.


Nobody knows 

what the fall semester will look like.


We are imagining we can

produce a residential learning program, 

but we don’t actually have

the answers to make that happen.


There’s no precedent for this - 

too many unknowns

in the midst of uncertainty.


No decision has been made.