WASHINGTON INFOMER:
University of Maryland Implements New COVID Policy
For the first time this year, the University of Maryland, College Park is implementing COVID-19 policies to reduce the spread as cases are increasing.
The new COVID-19 policy reads, in part: “All students living on-campus will need to isolate at their permanent home or another off-campus location if they test positive.”
According to the new policy, students can only return on day six if they meet a list of conditions, including: no fever for 24 hours, improving symptoms and a negative rapid test on day six. Even then, there’s another five days of masking and dining alone. Students can request a sick meal be delivered to their dorm room.
Interviews with students have yielded a variety of responses. While some students understand the need for this new policy, some out of state students worry that isolation outside of their campus housing may force them to return home.
“My friend just had COVID last week. One of my friends, he tested positive yesterday, and he’s, like, ‘I’m going home.’ I just thought he was doing it to be safe, but I guess it was because he has to,” said UMD student Elizabeth Rand.
“I’m only an hour and a half away, but even I thought to myself, class would kind of be inaccessible, and stuff like that, if I had to go home if I got COVID.”
BSU President Breaux Reelected to CIAA Leadership
Bowie State University President Dr. Aminta Breaux was reelected to her second term as Chair of the Board of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the nation’s oldest historically black conference. Shaw University President Dr. Paulette Dilliard will serve as Vice Chair. The CIAA Board also voted unanimously to approve extending Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams Parker’s contract through June 2028. She is entering her 12th season as the leader of the 13-member conference.
During her first term, the CIAA moved its annual basketball tournament to Baltimore and it will continue there through 2026.
“Following a successful basketball tournament in Baltimore, generating nearly $30 M in economic benefit to the Baltimore region, the CIAA is poised for greater achievements in this upcoming academic year, for our student-athletes, our member institutions, and the communities they serve,” said Dr. Breaux. “Our historic CIAA has proven year-over-year to be an economic benefit while providing a rich learning experience for students enrolled in our 13 HBCU member schools.”
Info on the 2024 CIAA tournament is available here.
