Loyola to offer online-only instruction for Fall 2020
After reviewing the national and statewide effects of COVID-19, Loyola University Maryland’s Board of Trustees and leadership have decided the University will offer online-only instruction to its undergraduate students for the fall semester. Graduate programs, which are mainly part-time programs for adult learners, will also be offered primarily online.
“Our carefully researched and well-formulated plans to welcome students in person were predicated on a model that expected COVID-19 to die down over the summer,” Rev. Brian F. Linnane, S.J., president, wrote in a message to the Loyola community. “That transition would have given us the opportunity to open the University as scheduled. Unfortunately, the data have proven that did not happen.”
In his letter, Fr. Linnane cited the availability of testing and turnaround times on tests, as well as the rise in COVID-19 cases in Maryland. While acknowledging the students’ grief over the loss of this time in person, he encouraged them to make the most of this time and look forward to being together. Loyola intends to welcome undergraduate students back for a full residential and academic experience for the Spring 2021 semester.
“We are disappointed, but we are not defeated. And we will make the most of this time, even as we look forward to being together again soon,” Fr. Linnane said. “A pandemic cannot stop the intellectual engagement that you participate in at Loyola. A pandemic cannot get in the way of essential conversations we are having around equity and justice within our community. A pandemic cannot overthrow the hopes and dreams and plans you have for your future. I invite you to grasp this moment and move forward with conviction and determination and a promise to yourself—and to your fellow students—that our goals are bigger than this moment in history.”
Fr. Linnane shared this video message with current and incoming students.