New positives, quarantining and temporary online instruction are just a few of the many things ACU will likely witness this fall semester.

Despite the best and valued efforts from the university, they cannot prepare for or contain a COVID-19 outbreak.

Several other universities across the nation, including Notre Dame and North Carolina, have already experienced outbreaks and shifted online temporarily, or in some cases, for the remainder of the semester.

ACU is not far behind, and they will experience new cases no matter what precautions are listed.

Recent off-campus “partying” has already led to growing concerns, and new positive results have created complications during Wildcat Week.

The university is in over its head, and while its passion to return in-person for the fall is admirable and understanding, all classes may ultimately be online in less than a month.

It’s true that the coronavirus fatality rate is extremely low for students. The major concern for ACU, however, is it’s older at-risk faculty and staff.

A large outbreak from students, many of which may be asymptomatic, could ultimately jeopardize in-person instruction.

New cases are inevitable when you bring thousands of students across America and the world to one centered location, but can the university truly contain an outbreak?

How will residence halls manage several positive cases without spreading it to other students?

The university believes it is taking the health and safety of all its members seriously, but at what point do they consider a complete shift to online instruction?

How many cases will it take for online instruction to become a permanent scenario at ACU?

While we have several protocols in motion to best protect the community, we cannot anticipate for what the semester has in store.

We are guinea pigs in a lab experiment this fall at ACU, and no one can predict the outcome.