Local university delays spring semester, enforces COVID testing, boosters

HICKORY, N.C. — Another local university is delaying the start of classes and taking extra precautions when students return to campus for the spring semester. Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory has made the decision to delay the start of classes until Jan. 18.

While classes will resume in-person, all faculty, students, and staff are required to take a COVID-19 test and receive a booster shot before returning.

The requirement applies to everyone on the Hickory, Asheville, and Columbia campuses.

Before classes started in fall 2021, students were also required to be vaccinated and to undergo testing at Lenoir-Rhyne.

The booster requirement does not apply to those few individuals who have an existing vaccine exemption, the school said.

“If we have a fully vaccinated campus that has also been vaccine boosted, re-commit to wearing masks indoors and continue surveillance testing, we believe we can resume normal campus operations for the spring semester as scheduled, similar to the 2021 fall experience,” Lenoir-Rhyne President Fred Whitt said in a statement to students.

The university cites the increase in positive COVID-19 cases and the holiday surge in cases as major factors in the decision to delay the start date.

School officials said they are finalizing the plan for missed class time and will announce the schedule soon.

People are eligible for boosters six months after their second dose of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or two months after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

According to the school, Lenoir-Rhyne community members have until Jan. 31 to be in compliance. Those who reach eligibility after Jan. 31 must have their booster shot within a week of their eligibility date.

All student-athletes and on-campus students at the Hickory campus will receive a rapid test upon arrival and prior to moving in. All other faculty, staff, and students must have a negative rapid or PCR test two to three days before arriving on campus. Commuter students will be tested during the first week of class.

Tests are free and available on campus.

Students who are fully vaccinated, but not yet eligible for the booster, will return to campus as normal and schedule the booster when eligible.

The university has updated isolation and quarantine protocols to follow CDC guidelines. Following a positive COVID-19 test and isolation, Cornerstone Health on campus must approve the return to campus.

As of the end of December, the university had a 99.3% vaccination rate.

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