Amidst what Surgeon General Jerome Adams predicted would be the worst week so far of COVID-19 cases and deaths, right-wing Christian nut-job Jerry Falwell Jr. has decided to go against the tide and open his university back up to students. Not only that, he ordered — ordered — the faculty back to work.
Why?
“I think we have a responsibility to our students — who paid to be here, who want to be here, who love it here — to give them the ability to be with their friends, to continue their studies, enjoy the room and board they’ve already paid for and to not interrupt their college life,” Falwell said.
Let the kids have fun! They have paid for their dorms! We wouldn't want to have to give them refunds, would we?
Let's see how nearby, sanely-run universities have decided to handle things:
In response to the pandemic, several nearby institutions have instructed faculty to work remotely and have limited dorms to students unable to return home. At the University of Lynchburg, 19 students continue to live in dorms while at Randolph College just five remain on campus.
In contrast with other schools, Liberty’s dorms, academic buildings, library and fitness center remain open.
The fitness center remains open. THE FITNESS CENTER. Because when they rip your shirt off as they wheel you into the Emergency Room because you're unable to breathe from COVID-19, you wanna be JACKED, bro!
Let's see what else might be behind Falwell Jr.'s alleged reasoning for this blatant disregard for the guidance of every respected medical voice begging folks to isolate and practice social distancing:
“I think we, in a way, are protecting the students by having them on campus together,” he said. “Ninety-nine percent of them are not at the age to be at risk and they don’t have conditions that put them at risk.”
Oh, rrreeeaaaallllyyyyy??? I'm so very sorry, Jerry, but Dr. Anthony Fauci disagrees.
Fauci was responding to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which, after studying more than 4,000 cases in the U.S., showed that about 40 percent of those who were hospitalized for the virus as of March 16 were ages 20 to 54. Among the most critical cases, 12 percent of intensive care admissions were among those ages 20 to 44, while 36 percent were for those 45 to 64.
Not to mention the degree to which young people are as likely as anyone to be carriers and spreaders of COVID-19 as anyone else. THAT is the greatest reason for isolating and social distancing. But why would Jerry Falwell Jr. be influenced by something as insignificant as medicine, science, logic and social responsibility, when he could be influenced by money, power, and politics?
Something tells me Darwin will have the last word on the campus that eschews his teachings with derision and glee.
