SPEARFISH, S.D. —It was the first day of classes Wednesday for students at Black Hills State University in Spearfish.
The first day back this year, though, was unlike any other with the concern over COVID-19.
Officials at BHSU have been working all summer, trying to find the best way to reopen during the pandemic.
Students are being asked to wear a mask on campus, and especially when they enter any school building.
Laurie Nichols, President of BHSU said “We have had to cancel things that make up the college experience in the fall, and a leading one is our athletic program, so that will impact the student experience especially on weekends. So I’d say that’s one of the biggies. The other is that student activities and student events, we will have to monitor very closely and we are going to try to have as many as we can but we will have to modify them.”
If a student has any coronavirus symptoms and needs to be tested, a rapid response testing machine is stationed at Monument Health in Spearfish and will provide results as quickly as five minutes, according to Nichols.
Forty campus residence rooms are also roped off this year to serve only as COVID-19 isolation rooms.
There was some concern as students returned after the university rented out dorm rooms to rally-goers during this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally – something the school has done since 1997. Although it was a much smaller crowd this year, some had concerns about it taking place so close to students going back to school.
However, President Nichols says a deep cleaning and disinfecting was done after the renters left.
