The Return to Campus

Around St. Paddy’s day, 2020, the City Colleges of Chicago initiated a full closure of schools as part of the nationwide effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. As vaccinations and testing increased, in-person classes became available again, beginning in the summer of 2021 and expanding throughout the fall semester. Unfortunately that changed at the end of the Fall semester of 2021.

The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has slowed the pace at which students are expected to return to campus, and some teachers have had to pivot once more to remote learning. English professor Vincent Bruckert serves as faculty adviser to The Wright Side, Wright College’s literary magazine. “We faculty must operate on the assumption that we might go remote again,” he says, “and we have to be confident that we can move into the next shutdown more quickly, teach more efficiently once we’re in [it], and be able to come out of it more assuredly”. As of right now, in-person classes remain open, with masking policies remaining in place.

In addition, weekly testing is now required of students, faculty, and staff remaining on campus, regardless of vaccination status. “City Colleges continues to follow the guidance of the Chicago Department of Public Health,” said David Potash, Wright’s president since 2013, “On behalf of Wright College, we thank students, faculty, and staff for their adherence to the COVID policies as we work together in the fight against COVID-19”. Weekly testing will remain in place through February, with free testing available on all City College campuses.