The Old College Try (and Fail)
I met my students for the last time in person on Wednesday, March 18th. We were already nervous by then. Fresh rumors wafted through corridors and across campus walkways every day. The administration sent regular email blasts, each with new and graver information than the last. The day before this, the university had announced the cancellation of its spring commencement ceremony, an event that typically drew thousands to the campus. It was the first collapse of a cherished college tradition: the celebrity speaker, the multitude of proud parents and relatives, the sea of exuberant smiles against a backdrop of gowns, and cascading mortarboards.
Spring Break was only days away, and it had already been announced that in-person classes would not resume after it — students were instructed to go home and not come back. My plan was to meet mine in person one more time, on Friday, March 20th, when we could talk about what the class would look like for the five weeks remaining in the semester after the break.
But that didn’t happen. The first COVID-19 case associated with the university campus (Boulder County already had fewer than a dozen then) came to light on Thursday, March 19th, and that day’s administrative email told students and faculty that in-person classes were finished.
