Published: June 1, 2020
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Louisiana State University officials announced Monday that their campuses will reopen with new safety protocols during Phase 2 of the governor’s order to restore activities after the shutdown for the coronavirus.
LSU is looking toward welcoming students back to campus in the fall on schedule. However, the school is exploring the option of holding the remaining classes after Thanksgiving break online to prevent the spread of the coronavirus since many students and faculty members will have traveled for the holiday.
“We are planning for all facilities and buildings to be open and accessible to our students, faculty, and staff, but, as noted, we will continue to strive to protect the health and safety of the LSU community,” Tom Galligan, LSU’s interim president, wrote in an email. “This means that things may look a little different on campus, but that’s okay. Together, we will navigate the challenges that COVID-19 presents to us, and we will adjust our policies and protocols as needed.”
LSU is requiring everyone to wear face masks. The university also plans to randomly test between 10% and 16% of the people on all LSU-system campuses statewide for the coronavirus.
Officials said they plan for everyone on the campuses to practice social distancing when able, and they will increase cleaning protocols.
While LSU is planning to require face masks, Republicans in the state Senate raised questions about a proposed resolution Monday asking the governor to issue an executive order that all citizens wear face masks in public. In the end, the resolution was changed to ask the governor to require people to wear face masks while visiting businesses.
The regular legislative session ended Monday before the Senate could take up another issue important to LSU and other schools in the state–a bill that would let them continue for three years to set the levels of their mandatory undergraduate student fees.
The House had passed the bill, and now the Senate will presumably take it up in a special session that started tonight and could last through the end of June.
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LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 