AUSTIN, Texas— With the rapid spread of the omicron COVID-19 variant, Huston-Tillotson University in Austin is going entirely virtual for the first few weeks of the spring semester.
In a letter, President Colette Burnette outlined the schedule for the first month of school with classes starting remotely on Jan. 10 and returning in person Jan. 24. Residence halls will still open up for move-in on the original scheduled date of Jan. 7.
The university will continue to require masks to be worn in all indoor facilities on campus. Students are required to show a COVID-19 vaccination or approved exemption from the school. All positive COVID tests are to be reported on the school’s health portal.
Routine COVID-19 testing and vaccine clinics will accessible throughout the semester. Citing the protection vaccinations can bring, Burnette strongly encourages students to get the vaccine and booster shot if they haven’t already.
Houston-Tillotson is not the first Texas institute of higher learning to put the brakes on in-person instruction. Texas State University in San Marcos this week announced classes will be held remotely until the end of January.
Established in 1875, Huston-Tillotson is a private, historically Black university with a current enrollment of about 1,160.
