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president harreld is speaking with undergraduate student government tonight - thread here:
Harreld says "we& #39;ve had very few cases of COVID-19 on campus or in our residence halls ... but we& #39;re having an explosion of cases originating in the downtown scene."
"What I saw this weekend is bluntly, atrocious" he said of the bar scene. Harreld says he is more disappointed with bar owners than students.
Harreld published this open letter today, asking for businesses in Iowa City to comply with a proclamation from the governor that requires bars and restaurants to keep patrons six feet apart, and seated at tables rather than congregating. https://coronavirus.uiowa.edu/sites/coronavirus.uiowa.edu/files/2020-08/Open%20Letter%20to%20the%20Business%20Community.pdf">https://coronavirus.uiowa.edu/sites/cor...
Harreld says the UI could move classes online, but this won’t fix issues downtown.
Harreld says the UI will be expanding testing capacity. Within the next few days, Harreld says the UI will be opening locations on campus for anyone wanting to be tested for COVID-19 - symptomatic or asymptomatic.
A senator asks who makes the decision to move UI classes online – Harreld says the critical incident management will decide, and the only reason he would say no is if the decision is "illegal or not aligned with our values."
Harreld is asked how Black students can trust his administration. Harreld says "I don& #39;t know how to begin to answer that question ... anything that looks like white supremacy we& #39;ve made it very clear ... it doesn& #39;t belong on this campus."
"I can move people off-campus, but we can& #39;t move people out of apartments," Harreld says in response to a Senator who says students are begging the UI to move classes online.
Harreld is asked about cutting ties with the ICPD: "I think there are solutions here, but I think immediately cutting it off is a little dangerous. I& #39;m interested in the alternative, and working with students to find the alternative."
There is a lot of news from tonight, and this thread barely scratches the surface. Stories to come from the DI team tonight to unpack.
