UNC-Chapel Hill faculty can teach remotely after celebration

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill can teach remotely until Feb. 17 in light of the crowded and largely maskless celebration of the men’s basketball team’s victory over Duke University on Saturday, officials said.
Hundreds of students rushed Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill to celebrate the 91-87 victory in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as variants of the virus spread across the country. Duke and Carolina face each other again on March 6 in Chapel Hill.
UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and Provost Robert Blouin wrote in a message on Sunday that students found to have violated he school’s COVID-19 Community Standards face disciplinary action. The university said it has already received hundreds of student conduct complaints related to the celebrations, news outlets reported.
Meanwhile, the school is following through with plans to make the transition to in-person classes, which were scheduled to begin on Monday.
UNC has 31% of undergraduate students taking one or two classes in-person, according to the message, which adds that class sizes are small and students are physically distanced. Students taking in-person classes will be tested twice a week, the message said.