On March 10, 2020, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper issued a State of Emergency notice related to the quickly-spreading COVID-19 disease. Two days later, the Southern Conference suspended all athletic competitions for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year. And on March 13, UNCG announced that it would move all classes online for the remainder of the semester. The University also cancelled its 2020 Spring commencement exercises.

University officials immediately began working on ways to bring the UNCG community together in the safest way possible. One June 18, Chancellor Gilliam announced that face coverings would be required in all campus facilities. Masks like this one were distributed to faculty, staff, and students. The Fall 2020 semester began with some classes continuing to meet virtually, while others returned to face-to-face. Classrooms were configured for social distancing. Students who returned to live on campus in Spring 2021 were required to submit a negative COVID test to Housing and Residence Life.

COVID vaccines began to roll out to the public in February 2021, but a limited supply meant that the vaccine was made available only to people in certain categories. Higher education employees were first eligible for vaccination on March 10. Students became eligible later in March. UNCG partnered with Guilford County Public Health and Guilford County Emergency Management to host a vaccine clinic.

Supplemental Materials

Oral histories discussing the Covid-19 pandemic