By: Keyshawn Davis | Sports Editor | [email protected]

By: Rose Vega | Editor-in-chief | [email protected]

The Los Rios Community College District announced Thursday, March 12, that all face-to-face instruction has been suspended, and classes will be taught fully online by Wednesday, March 18. 

Between March 13–17 the campus will remain open to all faculty and staff to prepare for the transition, according to City College Communication and Public Information Officer Kaitlyn Collignon. All Los Rios colleges and outreach centers will also be closed to reduce the risk of transmission of the coronavirus.

“We’re ending in-person classes at the end of today [March 12]. Tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday will all be available for staff and faculty to work on getting classes and services fully remote,” said Collignon. “That’s really our goal. We’re hoping to address any concerns that come up during that time and see how we can work with everybody to get them access to what they need and help them transition to the online platform.” 

The closure comes a day after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. There are still no confirmed cases of students or faculty with COVID-19, according to the email. 

Colligon said that students should be prepared to use the Canvas online platform to keep up with their courses, and they have the next few days to “set themselves up to be successful in the online environment.”

“If not, [students can access] our student tech help desk. They’re really great, and they can take calls,” said Collignon. “I think they are planning on figuring out how they can offer remote services for anybody who has questions on getting into Canvas and any other notifications set up, getting their settings all settled so that they can be effective and efficient.” 

Students like Kimberly Jenkins, who is hoping to graduate in 2021, said that she is worried that online classes might stop her from graduating on time. 

“I absolutely hate it,” said Jenkins, art major. “I chose classes that were in-person for a reason. Online doesn’t really suit my learning style for communicating in person and hearing lectures.”

Jenkins said that she is taking everything one day at a time. 

“There’s a lot of uncertainty in the news, so it’s really concerning that there’s nothing solid that’s come out like: ‘This is what it is, this how you treat it, this is how we can deal with it,’” said Jenkins.

Student Maria Cecilia Smurr-Ferrer, global studies major, said shutting the campus down is the right thing to do to prevent the disease from escalating.

“I think it’s a good idea that they’re closing the campus because it is spreading really quickly,” said Smurr-Ferrer. “There is a lack of testing available, so I do think it’s a good idea.”

Smurr-Ferrer said she is going to spend more time at home now that classes have been moved to online. 

“I’m privileged enough that I have a computer and internet access, so it’s not going to affect me too much, but I’m sure it’s going to be difficult for a lot of Sac City students,” said Smurr-Ferrer. 

Along with campus closures throughout the district, all sports games and practices have been canceled until March 31, according to the Dean of Athletics Mitch Campbell. 

“It doesn’t mean that we’re starting again on April first,” said Campbell. “It just means we’re putting a time frame to it, and then it’ll be re-evaluated to see where we are at that point. It’s such a difficult thing—unprecedented. We’re like everybody else watching what’s happening on the national scale when you’re talking about the NBA suspending games, the NCAA suspending March Madness, the Ivy League suspending all their spring sports and, frankly, the unknown nature of this pandemic.”

Campbell said he recognizes the frustration from coaches and student athletes and is pleased with the ways  people are handling the situation. 

“I’ve been throughout this very proud of our coaches and faculty in their approach to this,” said Campbell. “No one has been through it before, and it’s easy to be cynical and negative, but the attitude has been, ‘We understand. What do we need to get through this?’ 

“I think it’s important for all of us to keep our perspective. Our coaches are wondering to what extent they can have contact [with their athletes], and all of them are really looking for guidance. It’s what do we need to do, and what we can do to keep the student athletes engaged? All of a sudden we had a baseball game [March 12] that we had to cancel, and so it’s kind of a stark reality.”

Softball head coach Tim Kiernan said he doesn’t know much about what’s going on other than the fact that his team can’t play games or practice. 

“I can give them workouts—they can go to their gym. They can go to their local park,” said Kiernan. “Four or five of them want to get together and hit fly balls or ground balls or whatever. None of us [coaches] can be there. There was a telephone meeting with all the athletic directors throughout the state at 10:30 [a.m. March 12]. We got a [email] saying Los Rios is shut down as far as athletic events.”

Pitcher T.J. Smith of the baseball team, a kinesiology major, was upset that the home game against Diablo Valley was canceled. 

“It’s a bummer, just because I know everybody was excited and were going to play hard and compete and just go have some fun. It’s always a bummer when you don’t get to play,” said Smith. 

Smith isn’t too concerned about classes becoming fully online and said that while practices are canceled, everyone will continue to practice and work out at home. 

“I don’t think it’ll be too much of a big deal,” Smith said. “We got a lot of responsible guys on the team that know what they’re doing. We’ll get our stuff done, we’ll get our work in somehow and be ready to come back.” 

Third baseman Kade McKechnie, an undecided major, said he hopes the sport will resume in April. 

“I wasn’t really affected by it until this whole baseball thing happened, so it kind of sucks,” said McKechnie. “We got an email from the school saying all athletic events are canceled. And then our coaches had a meeting, and then [baseball] was canceled basically for the rest of March. We have to do everything on our own, basically. It just sucks that we can’t play.”

Additional reporting by: Arturo Gomez | Staff photographer | [email protected]