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College Profile VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY


Testing the waters A


VCU goes back to school during the pandemic by Gary Robertson


t colleges across Virginia and the nation, this will be a fall semester like no other.


The coronavirus is turning campuses


into petri dishes for experimentation. One of the state’s largest public colleges


with an enrollment of about 30,000 stu- dents in the heart of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University is also pivoting to confront the unprecedented challenges of creating a healthful learning environ- ment amid a pandemic, with no rule book to follow. And in many ways, VCU provides


a microcosm of how universities are responding statewide. For one VCU student, it’s unfolding


like a scary movie. “Personally, I feel it’s not going to be


good at the end of the day, simply because cases are still going up and when everyone gets back to campus, it’s almost certainly going to explode,” says Udhanth Mallasani, interim president of the VCU Student Government Association. “I can guarantee you students are going


to interact with each other, even if it’s outside the classroom,” Mallasani says.


“Campus is going to be a breeding ground for the disease.” The 19-year-old biology major from


Loudoun County is not only worried about his own health but that of his family, if he contracts COVID-19. “I basically will not be able to go back


home till there is a vaccine and a treatment and a level of normalcy because my mom has had a relapse from chemotherapy


Photo by Will Schermerhorn


[and] her immunity is compromised,” Mallasani explains. His grandparents are also at his home,


he adds, and they’re at higher risk of death or hospitalization because of their age. On the first day of classes in August,


about 100 students protested VCU’s reopening during the pandemic. Within the first four days, VCU reported that 25 students and 11 employees tested positive. Despite some of her fellow students’


misgivings, 20-year-old Laith Samamreh, a student representative on VCU’s COVID-19 response team, believes that universities could be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. “My demographic is running amok,


spreading it more than anybody else,” says Samamreh, a Vienna resident, alluding to gatherings referred to as “super spreader” events. But she notes, “With increased testing,


increased precautions, increased contact tracing, universities can help prevent the spread of the disease.” In Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam has


said that people between the ages of 20 and 29 are now the most likely demo- graphic to get COVID-19, due to not wearing masks or practicing distancing.


Historic deficit Aside from creating widespread health


problems, the coronavirus also has cre- ated financial hardships for some VCU students, Mallasani says, because the pandemic has wiped out the part- and full- time jobs many of them depend on to help


www.VirginiaBusiness.com


pay for college. Restaurants, retail shops and other student workplaces are now less likely to have job openings. “Some of my peers, they still haven’t been


able to pay off their spring tuition because they don’t have a job anymore,” he says. VCU says about 30% of its students


qualify for federal Pell Grants, a subsidy for low-income students. To help students financially, VCU, for the second year in a row, did not raise tuition. The university has also stepped up to


assist students who didn’t have the neces- sary technology and connectivity to join the rapidly emerging digital community on campus as online classes expand. “For this fall, we have allocated $1 million


for students who have technology needs. We’ve received applications from over 300 students who say they need a computer or a laptop or funding to provide internet access,” says Tomikia P. LeGrande, vice provost for strategic enrollment management. Additionally, VCU received $10 million


in federal CARES Act funding to assist students suffering financial hardship during the pandemic. “Thus far, we have funded over 6,000 students,” LeGrande says. The enrollment chief acknowledges


that students and their families are more worried than ever about the costs of starting or continuing college in the throes of wide- spread unemployment. While it was initially feared that


student enrollment would drop by as much as 10%, LeGrande says that the university has made extensive efforts to keep in touch with students and families


VIRGINIA BUSINESS | 61


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