A flashing sign near Indiana University reminds residents that Bloomington is under an emergency order limiting private gatherings to 15 people.
(George Hale, WFIU/WTIU News)
Only a handful of Indiana University students were making their way home around the time bars were closing last Saturday night in downtown Bloomington.
Elijah Mitchell was out with friends from out of town.
“We just look around and we see friends and we see people having a good time,” he said. “We don't see a number of (people) -- 'Oh my gosh, now we're like contagious, so this is bad'.”
The university is enforcing the city's and Monroe County's orders related to the coronavirus — and threatening disciplinary action for violations.
“A lot of students feel like that; they're unhappy because they're not able to do their usual social gatherings and fun like they’re used to doing,” Kirk White, IU’s assistant vice president for strategic partnerships, said Tuesday. “I understand that. But we're all in that boat. I don't get to do a lot of the stuff I'd like to do, either.”
Students and university officials will be watching that percentage closely as they anticipate the possibility that classes may move solely online if cases start to rise.
Right now, the university is offering a combination of online classes as well as ones that have at least some in-person component.
After Thanksgiving, classes will move online as flu season arrives.
White says there isn't a specific number or percentage of positive tests that will automatically trigger a change to online-only classes sooner than Thanksgiving.
“At one point they were looking at 18 different metrics,” White said.
“It's everything from hospital bed availability to local county percentage positive, to how many quarantine bed spaces we've got left on campus. This whole, long list of things.”
University officials say they expect those specific thresholds to be released within days.
They’re also set to release detailed data on student testing Friday.
“We tested at IU more than 34,000 students on arrival,” university spokesperson Chuck Carney said Monday. “And that's the students living on campus and those in off campus.”
Carney added that the university had “somewhere in the neighborhood of maybe about 5,000 (more people to test) that we're still trying to figure out.”
“It was quiet over the weekend, and that's good,” Carney said.
“Now, we've got a long way to go. We have to keep up the work. This is an unusual time, and we think our students are up to that.”
That seemed to be the case Saturday night in the downtown area.
Despite their gripes, students like Mitchell said they were cooperating with the university's coronavirus requirements.
But Mitchell doesn't think it's going to change anything in the end.
He and other students in the downtown area Saturday predicted that the university was going to move all the classes online no matter what students did.
That's why some say they're ambivalent about strictly following the orders.
“They're going to (go online), and they're going to say it's our fault because we were out having a good time,” Mitchell predicted.
“They’re going to bring us back and say because we couldn't handle not partying that they have to shut the school down, send us home, but still keep all the money.”
University officials say they’re aiming to keep some classes in person — but socially distanced.
They say remaining on campus is up to not only the students but also faculty and staff: Everyone on campus is now required to sign a pledge to follow local health orders.
Violations can result in a range of penalties including summary suspensions.
For the latest news and resources about COVID-19, bookmark our Coronavirus In Indiana page here.
