Facing the impact of COVID-19 as well as natural disasters, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have continued to develop campus reopening plans for the academic year.
To provide resources and advice in navigating both current and future crises, the HBCU Emergency Management Consortium hosted the first webinar “Response Planning and Implementation” of its HBCU Disaster Resilience Series.
“When it comes to a disaster, it does not have to be big,” said Tony Russell, superintendent of the Center for Domestic Preparedness. “If it happens to you, it’s a disaster. How do we prepare our communities to be able to be more resilient?”
Benedict College in South Carolina, serves as a case study to provide examples of reopening policies and practices.
To open the campus safely and serve the local community with testing and other resources, Benedict partnered with South Carolina Department of Health and Environment Control and Richland County Emergency Management.
Dr. Ceeon Quiett Smith, chief of staff at Benedict, emphasized the importance of communication. As an attempt to eliminate false information, Benedict launched “Tiger Talks” in July 2020. These discussions set expectations for both new and returning students on how the campus would operate.
“Communicate, communicate, communicate,” she said. “Rumor control, especially the way our nation responded to COVID-19. We had to be sure we were managing expectations early and talking with our students, faculty and staff early.”
