Leaders with St. Bonaventure University are preparing to start classes early this semester, on August 24, and welcome students back the week before.


What You Need To Know


  • St. Bonaventure has comprehensive reopening plan
  • About 100 students need to self-quarantine when they arrive on campus
  • The university is working with the Cattaraugus County Health Department

"Let's take one day at a time. Our plan is very comprehensive, but it's also very fluid," said Tom Missel, St. Bonaventure University chief communications officer.

Close to a hundred of those students come from states where they're required to quarantine for two weeks. 

While the university's union leaders are working to get the rule modified, all students, no matter where they live, will have to submit a negative test result two weeks before they arrive.

"We're excited to see our kids. I think the key thing for us is communicating to students and parents, any they recognize this already, it's going to be different," said Missel.

Leaders say another challenge is getting students to social distance when they move-in and walk about the campus.

While students and faculty will be required to wear masks in class while sitting six feet apart, students will not have to have them on in their dorm room, or while eating.

"There's certainly angst in a sense, like everybody has. Daunting is the perfect word, it almost seems like at times an impossible task, because you think you've got every based covered, and you turn around and there's four bases that you didn't even explore because somebody raised a legitimate question," said Missel.

"We are collaborating very closely with the university for their safety plan to open," said Dr. Kevin Watkins, Cattaraugus County public health director.

Cattaraugus County health leaders say that collaboration will include testing students and staff as needed.

Leaders say the county's prevalence rate remains low, and will do what it can to mitigate the spread as well as prevent students from putting the community at risk.

"Well, we are very concerned. We will hope that they will be compliant with the executive order that they quarantine for 14 days. But these are young students and to try and hold them down for 14 days, I think it will be more than optimistic for us to say that is what they're going to do," said Dr. Watkins.

One of the university's friars is now in quarantine after he recently tested positive for COVID-19.

"COVID-19 does not discriminate as to who it might affect. We had to automatically quarantine the rest of the friars as well. They seem to be doing very well," said Dr. Watkins.

University leaders say the friar was asymptomatic, and his condition should have little impact on the start of the semester.

"We're still six weeks out from the start of the school year, so that'll be resolved by the time the school starts," said Missel.

The last day of class is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Students will then return to distance learning, followed by final exams.