Before classes resume on College Hill, the University intends to test all returning students for COVID-19. But what happens next?

When Juliet Hooker, a professor of political science, began teaching her class POLS 1530: Gender, Slavery, and Freedom a few years ago, she was surprised to learn just how little some students in her classroom knew of the University’s ties to chattel slavery. 

In the shadow of Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Chief Pediatrics Resident Alexis Thompson bowed her head in silence. She was motionless, surrounded by dozens of colleagues, clad in their white jackets, blue-green uniforms and face masks.

A Brown student filed a class-action lawsuit against the University demanding a refund for tuition, fees and/or room and board he claims he was unlawfully charged for because the COVID-19 pandemic forced the University to close its campus and cancel in-person classes.

An unidentified prisoner at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility tested positive for COVID-19, according to a daily report sent from Daniel Martin, the facility’s warden, to United States Chief District Court Judge John McConnell Jr. ’80. The prisoner is one of the 490 people currently being held at the facility.

Streams of protestors drove around the R.I. State House last Friday, blaring their horns and carrying signs in support of increased releases of incarcerated people from the Adult Correctional Institutions — releases that they say have taken on a potentially life-or-death-significance, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The University will freeze regular salary increases for faculty and staff for Fiscal Year 2021 beginning July 1 as one of many measures to alleviate the financial strain of COVID-19, according to a community-wide email sent by Provost Richard Locke P’18. 

President Christina Paxson P’19 and Provost Richard Locke P’18 will each be taking a 20 percent pay reduction this fiscal year. This decision accompanies salary freezes for faculty and staff.

When news broke that the University was moving to remote learning and telling students to leave College Hill, Jessica Zhu ’20 was not surprised. She was expecting the announcement. In many ways, it felt as though her whole semester had been building to that moment.

The University is shifting to remote learning, with all course instruction taking place online for the remainder of the semester, beginning March 30. Many students have evacuated campus and the University community now spans multiple continents.