Duke Closes Campus to Juniors and Seniors

Athletes can apply for exception to live on campus

Duke announced its policy on reopening campus to the student body for fall semester and threw a wrench into the plans of the various sports teams that have been working out on campus.

The school announced that only first and second-year students will be allowed to live on campus in the fall. Juniors, seniors and graduate students will take online classes for the fall semester. They’ll have access to libraries and labs to do work, but dining halls, residence halls and “social spaces” are off limits to them.

The plan was expected to reduce the population of undergraduate students on campus by more than 30 percent.

Duke’s fall and winter sports teams began reporting back to campus for voluntary workouts earlier in July, including juniors and seniors. At first, the school stated that the policy was also in place for student athletes, which would have made it difficult for out-of-town athletes on the various Duke teams to participate in team activities.

On Sunday evening, however, the school clarified the policy in a message to the Duke student newspaper, saying that “junior and senior student-athletes on spring sports teams will be evaluated through the review process that Duke has established to determine who can receive on-campus housing, as ’Some may have other circumstances that could make them eligible.’”

Duke was one of the last Power Five teams to have its football team report to campus, more than a month after some schools. The ACC is expected to make an announcement about the football season later this week.