Clemson President Jim Clements further asserted that students will return to campus life in the fall despite a recent spike of COVID-19 cases in the upstate of South Carolina.

Clements joined the ACC Network’s Packer and Durham Show on Tuesday morning to discuss a variety of topics.

Mark Packer, whose daughter attends Clemson, questioned Clements from a parent’s perspective and for the first time the President spoke in a live interview about scenarios for reopening this fall.

“Yes, we are going to open. Yes, we are going to have students in the dorms. Yes, we will have students in the classroom,” Clements said.

Clements also spoke for the first time about a potential scenario that allows for students to seemingly opt in or out of face-to-face classes in favor of an online option if they show symptoms or prefer to maintain distance from others.

“We are actually looking at an option right now where if you want to go into class you can or if you want to have the class online you can do that as well,” Clements continued.

He stressed that safety is a priority for the administration but that they desire to be back to as close to a normal campus environment as possible, which makes Clemson so special.

“The students want to go to games, they want to participate in fraternities and sororities, they want to be out with their friends, and they want to go workout in the Swann Fitness Center,” Clements said. “We are excited to have them back and I miss the energy that the students bring and am very much looking forward to that.”

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