Eastern Oregon University is excited to welcome students back to campus and community. With gratitude for the incredible work of so many colleagues and partners, we share an update on EOU’s La Grande campus resumption activities for the new academic year.

Six months ago, the COVID-19 pandemic dispersed our main campus community as we moved to remote learning to decrease exposure. Faculty, students, staff and partners of EOU responded to this new reality by innovating and improvising to ensure students were able to continue their educational journeys from a distance. With grit and determination our students, faculty and staff made the best of a challenging situation.

Well before the conclusion of the spring term, EOU embarked on its resumption planning for the 2020 academic year. A pioneer in distance and online education, EOU has a great deal of expertise in providing a quality education leveraging state-of-the-art technology. However, students that choose to attend EOU at our campus in La Grande do so for the experiences, relationships and co-curricular activities that are offered through in-person instruction and interaction.

Ultimately, our mission calls us back to provide campus-based education and programs that students need and desire. At EOU, we confronted the Great Depression soon after our founding, and World War II when we modified operations to educate soldiers. Today, we face a pandemic, and as in the past, we are well equipped to adapt, innovate and respond creatively to continue serving our students and this region. Our on-campus resumption is not the easy path. It is the necessary one.

After months of thoughtful planning and expansive consideration, we are resuming on-campus instruction. No single path or solution will meet the needs of all, so the guiding themes of safety, wellness, equity, collaboration, flexibility, and innovation provide the necessary balance for effective resumption.

For fall term, approximately half of EOU’s on-campus courses will be in-person, and the rest in hybrid or remote modalities. When determining instruction modality, college deans and faculty worked to ensure educational quality while mitigating virus exposure risk.

Support services like tutoring, career and internship assistance, advising, financial aid, student health and the library are prepared to provide resources remotely and in-person with safety measures. Student clubs, cultural events and campus life will look different this fall, but they will remain a vital part of the EOU experience. Athletic schedules and events have been modified to reduce risk while preserving the student-athlete experience. Fall sports competitions have been postponed to early next year to reduce potential disruption to campus instruction due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

Instructors and mentors are ready to respond and inspire through a face covering or across a video screen. Reference texts and computer labs, regularly sterilized, are ready to help refine understanding. Friends in clubs, classes and residence halls, smiling behind a face covering, are ready to remind each student that they belong in our community.

Society teaches us to individually control our world and our destinies. But this pandemic reminds us how interdependent we really are — our wellness and progress are inextricably linked to our shared behaviors and collective ability to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19. Consequently, every student engaging in a class or activity on EOU’s campus is being tested upon their arrival to our community. This step is being taken to reduce the chances of students unknowingly transferring the virus from their home community to La Grande.

EOU’s La Grande campus resumption will not be without challenges and we fully expect to experience COVID-19 cases. But we are prepared to respond as circumstances arise. EOU has endeavored to add resources, implement safety protocols, and develop incident response procedures to provide for the safety of all.

Alongside our region, we are testing our strength to reorganize, reimagine, and rebound. This year will be like no other as we work to adapt and respond to the dynamic environment created by COVID-19. We welcome our returning and new Mountaineers, and together will overcome the challenges we face.