Inside INdiana Business is reporting as Purdue University President Mitch Daniels looks across a near-empty campus, the result of the global pandemic that forced students and staff to flee, he said “radical changes” may be needed for both medical protection and psychological comfort for the campus community before students return in the fall.
“I don’t use words like that lightly. I thought about it before I put them in. I just wanted to stress to the folks we’ve asked to spend some time working on this that nothing’s out of bounds,” said Daniels in an interview with Inside INdiana Business.
Daniels announced this week the formation of the Safe Campus Task Force, a broad-based team of experts, including academic, clinical, operational and safety fields from throughout the school.
He’s charged the task force with exploring every possible change that could occur in how the campus operates, “in our practices, procedures, physical facilities, or any of our operations that will limit the degree of illness, flu or otherwise, on our campus.”
With Indiana and the rest of the nation still waiting for COVID-19 to peak in the weeks ahead, Daniels says it is prudent to be thinking forward now.
“Uncertainty confronts us on almost every question. But one thing we can say with confidence: next fall’s college environment and experience will be unlike any we have witnessed,” said Daniels.
With a likely outbreak of influenza in the fall, Daniels suspects COVID-19 could still be part of that overall “flu season” and he expects most faculty, students, and staff will not have acquired natural immunity.
“It is incumbent on a place like this to take absolutely every step we can to be ready for that, so we can manage it. That we do everything we can to make this the most flu-safe environment,” Daniels said.
He says Purdue’s mission is the prepare tomorrow’s problem-solvers and to cultivate the persistence to overcome adversity.
“We have a duty to our students, staff, faculty, and student’s parents to do everything we can, whether it’s physical facilities, the way we teach, the way we house people and feed people…to give everyone confidence that this is as safe and well prepared a place as any.”