The Moment COVID Shut Down Campus, One Year Later

On March 12, 2020, students, faculty and staff alike were notified that campus would be shut down for two weeks, a precautionary measure meant to prevent further spread of coronavirus/COVID-19. They would not be back for the remainder of the spring semester.

That announcement came shortly after the World Health Organization called the crisis a global pandemic and the same day Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas would issue his first state of emergency order related to the virus.

Whether it seems like yesterday or decades ago, COVID-19 continues to shape campus life. Mask wearing and social distancing are like second nature and Zoom fatigue, for many, is real. Thinking back to the start of it all, Matt Quick, Ph.D., vice president of student development and athletics, said the focus was on keeping the campus community members safe, even if that meant making some hard choices.

“It was the right move just in time,” he said of the shutdown. “And lots of staff rallied with our residence life team to make that happen. Families and students were very understanding, but it was very sudden and difficult — especially when many of our students did not have a chance to say ‘goodbye’ to each other.”

For senior Jermal Perkins, the announcement came as he and a group of other students were on a spring break service immersion trip in Detroit, Michigan, preparing to start a reflection about their day. The realization of what it would all mean was difficult to grapple with.

“I thought about the memories that would not happen and the fun things that were planned with friends,” he said. “It made me sad and full of grief for what was being lost. There was fear and uncertainty because I wondered how many lives would be taken from this pandemic.”

Adjusting to academic life from his home was also difficult, too. His faith, and opportunities to explore it through campus ministry’s virtual groups, kept him going.

Perkins said he believes the world has learned a lot in the year since the pandemic shut down so much of society, reminding us of things that truly matter. And on campus, Doug Dunham, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said lessons continue to be learned about COVID-19 and how it affects University operations. But he commended the way faculty, staff and students rallied to make a return to campus possible, something that might have seemed unimaginable a year ago.

“I think that we have not had to close down campus this year to go completely online and that we have no evidence of infections transmitted within the classrooms and our relatively low rate of quarantine and isolations — especially this year — is a testament to how our community recognized our individual and collective responsibility to care for one another,” he said.