Weekly Briefing: A campus sees a Covid-19 spike over the summer.

The outbreak shows how difficult the fall semester will be, especially when it comes to controlling students' off-campus behavior. [Weekly Briefing] Are you working remotely? Many institutions provide access to premium Chroniclecontent on campus. If your college or university is one of them, you can maintain that access when you’re at home. Read this helpful [FAQ]( to see how. Your account is easy to set up and will provide you access wherever you are. --------------------------------------------------------------- A flagship campus reports a surge of coronavirus cases during the summer. [Image] South Carolina, Collegiate Images, Getty Images As of June 21 the University of South Carolina at Columbia had 204 student cases of Covid-19. That number is a cumulative total that dates to March. In recent days the number has risen quickly. On June 13 there were 125 cases, but by June 15 there were 174, Robert L. Caslen, the president, told our Lindsay Ellis. Why did that flagship campus see a spike in the middle of the summer? Caslen linked the new cases to off-campus gatherings in nearby neighborhoods and bars. No college is immune to sudden outbreaks at such bars and neighborhoods. A surge of cases this week [was connected to Tigerland bars]( near Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. In East Lansing, Mich., 34 people tested positive after visiting Harper's Restaurant and Brew Pub, near Michigan State University. Those recent outbreaks show how difficult the fall semester will be, especially when it comes to controlling students' behavior when they leave campus. In last week's newsletter, [I described the challenges of enforcing coronavirus policies]( such as social distancing and wearing masks when students are on campus. Some faculty members [have also raised concerns]( that colleges can do only so much about student behavior. Students eventually leave campus to do what students do: socialize. Voluntary workouts for college-football players have also started, and several campuses have welcomed players back in phases this month. Though sports conferences and the National Collegiate Athletic Association have written guidelines for how colleges can restart athletics programs, sports teams are giving institutions a preview of what the fall semester could be like. At several colleges, [dozens of athletes]( have already tested positive for Covid-19. The new reality is coming to a head months before the fall semester is due to start. At South Carolina, students are scheduled to resume classes on August 20. Masks will be required in the classroom and other places, and administrators said students with concerns about contagion could still take classes online. Until then, Caslen said, the university is working with local officials to require masks more broadly and possibly impose curfews. If being on campus passes the point of "acceptable risk," Caslen said, then the university would disperse and return to online instruction, meaning that "this virus has spread not just on the college campus but off the college campus, into the community." [Read Lindsay's story on the surge of cases here](. ADVERTISEMENT [advertisement]( Lagniappe. [Image] Krodri, Creative Commons - ✏️Learn. Here's another strange affliction you need to add to your list: [nature deficit disorder](. - 📚Read. This is a beautiful [love letter to letters](. - 🎧Listen. [This episode]( of the podcast Reply All is about a new, and strange, form of reparations: Venmo payments from white people to Black people. - 📺Watch. What's it like to attend a service at a drive-in church? [This video]( shows worship in the age of the coronavirus. I’ll be back next week. 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