[Papa John]

If the criterion for on-campus sports activites is the resumption of in-person instruction for the general undergraduate student population, then Stanford should cancel immediately all sports for 2020-21 and the NCAA should allow student-athletes who wish to transfer immediate eligibility. Anything less is unfair to the athletes, IMO, because the likelihood of students returning en masse to campus is very low.

However, I, for one, do not agree with that criterion. I think that the University should resume any and all regular activities as it is safe to do so. It's not safe to resume a lot of in-person instruction--although some graduate student courses have in-person elements. However, research is ramping up, because it is possible--with some effort, of course--to manage safely a small cohort of laboratoy personnel. This is what is happening at the University at which I work.

From the accounts that I have read, it looks like it is now possible to manage athletics cohorts in a safe manner for the players, coaches and support staff. I don't know if the Pac-12 is considering any other fall sports for return-to-play other than football and basketball, but I hope that Stanford participates in full as long as it is reasonably safe.

[Papa John]

If the criterion for on-campus sports activites is the resumption of in-person instruction for the general undergraduate student population, then Stanford should cancel immediately all sports for 2020-21 and the NCAA should allow student-athletes who wish to transfer immediate eligibility. Anything less is unfair to the athletes, IMO, because the likelihood of students returning en masse to campus is very low.

However, I, for one, do not agree with that criterion. I think that the University should resume any and all regular activities as it is safe to do so. It's not safe to resume a lot of in-person instruction--although some graduate student courses have in-person elements. However, research is ramping up, because it is possible--with some effort, of course--to manage safely a small cohort of laboratoy personnel. This is what is happening at the University at which I work.

From the accounts that I have read, it looks like it is now possible to manage athletics cohorts in a safe manner for the players, coaches and support staff. I don't know if the Pac-12 is considering any other fall sports for return-to-play other than football and basketball, but I hope that Stanford participates in full as long as it is reasonably safe.