Last week, Martha Pollack and Michael Kotlikoff, president and provost of Cornell University, wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post taking what could be seen as a well-deserved victory lap. When the reopening debate was live, Cornell had the most ambitious reopening plan, raising concerns in Ithaca and clashing with New York State’s policies. Colleges and universities across the country have blamed for coronavirus outbreaks. However, so far, there hasn’t been news out of Cornell regarding outbreaks, and as the headline from the Cornell Daily Sun reads, no news is good news.
Why that’s happening, however, is of considerable debate. As Pollack and Kotlikoff recognize, “Cornell is fortunate to have the expertise and resources to create and support its own testing lab.” That infrastructural support is likely part of Cornell’s strategy that other institutions cannot replicate. But outside that advantage, students are still wildcards. While Trump (Wharton ‘68) shows that unpredictability isn’t the exclusive province of youth, the Sun reports that some students haven’t been arriving on time for appointments, or at the right location, perhaps with the knowledge that a test will happen anyway regardless of logistical challenges. We’re also barreling into flu season, with hotspots reemerging in New York City. It’s very possible after press time that the second wave will crash unto the first, and that op-ed will seem as well-advised as, say, Bush 43’s declaration of victory in Iraq.
Behind that victory, there may indeed be discomforts that intensify as the fiscal bleeding from 2020 continues into 2021. Brown still has an institutional hiring freeze, and is withdrawing more from their endowment than usual, according to the Brown Daily Herald. Yale has lost $250 million between extra COVID-19 precautions and lost enrollment income, though they have avoided a negative return on the endowment, according to the Yale Daily News. The reasons behind those losses aren’t going away any time soon. And for some departments, those reasons didn’t disappear quick enough. Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business has laid off 18 staff roles, though pledging three jobs to previously employed staff, according to The Dartmouth. We’re not out of the woods yet with this pandemic, and if conditions persist into 2021, these signs are likely to get much worse.