Almost all Boston University students are expected to be learning in person in the fall semester, its president announced Friday, with the vaccination efforts underway nationwide expected to make "more typical campus life" possible once more.
Only a few graduate programs, yet to be named, will continue with BU's Learn From Anywhere program, President Robert Brown said in a letter to students and parents. However, the school will continue to its community COVID testing program in some form.
"We all yearn for a return to a post-COVID normalcy and for restoration of all elements of our wonderful living and learning campus environment at Boston University. This fall, we will take a giant step in that direction," Brown wrote.
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Crediting the immunization drive that's expected to reach all willing adults before September, he also cautioned that new variants could make vaccines less effective at stopping the spread of the virus.
BU is not the only local university to announce a more normal fall 2021 semester. Northeastern University said earlier this week that it hopes to have students back in the fall, though they may need to continue wearing masks and taking other precautions for the virus.
Brown's letter to the BU community said any public health protocols students will need to follow will be announced in the summer.
But along with students returning to classrooms, laboratories and studios in person and without social distancing, BU also expects to bring back "policies that enable students to move freely among residence halls, the return to operation of our dining halls at full capacity, and, more generally, the use of social and public spaces for their intended purposes," Brown said.
"I expect the vibrant campus life that we cherish will fully return," he added.
