Current and prospective students, university faculty, staff, and alumni and higher education pundits are waiting with bated breath across the country on guidance from governors, mayors, and university presidents regarding whether or not students will return to college campuses for the fall semester.

The majority of American colleges and universities have claimed the middle ground, acknowledging a desire to return to traditional operations, tempered by a necessary wait-and-see approach as to what limits may prevent such a return (e.g. federal, state, or local restrictions; new scientific evidence; public consensus).

In an April 29 letter to the Howard University community, President Wayne Frederick, M.D. announced Howard’s intention to reopen in Fall 2020 as a “bestcase scenario,” with a plan to ensure the safety of the university community.

This letter, and Frederick’s near-regular appearances on local and national media to discuss his plans for Howard to support its university community and Washington, D.C. citizens, represents a vision that is bold, yet careful and full of hope and compassion.

Staking ground on what rhetorically appears to be a diverging executive ideological spectrum, Paul Quinn College president Michael Sorrell, J.D. recently opined in his Atlantic op-ed: “If a school’s cost-benefit analysis leads to a conclusion that includes the term acceptable number of casualties, it is time for a new model.”