“We should not let our own financial and reputational worries cloud our judgment about matters of life and death,” Sorrell wrote.
Still, some public health experts said colleges can bring back students to some degree, and many are trying to figure out how many students and how.
Sandro Galea, the dean of the BU School of Public Health, said he expects institutions to adapt with smaller classes, fewer students in dorms, everyone on campus wearing masks, contact tracing programs, efforts to boost hygiene, and areas cordoned off to isolate those who may get the virus.
“Ultimately, it’s an issue of managing risk,” Galea said. “How do colleges and universities adapt to the risk?”