Isaac Hoops/The Nevada Sagebrush
Campus as it appears on August 24. This is the first time students have been on campus en masse since its closure in March.

University of Nevada, Reno President Brian Sandoval announced that all buildings on campus, including the E.L. Wiegand Fitness Center, will open on Monday, Jan. 25 in an email to students and staff.

In the email, Sandoval also shared that spring instruction will proceed similarly to the fall semester. 

The “HyFlex” model, which was used during the fall semester, allows for classes under 34 students to be taught partly in person. Classes with an enrollment of 35 and above are taught completely online. Some classes, like labs and studio classes, can be taught completely in-person. 

President Sandoval closed the gym on Oct. 8, citing 66 COVID-19 cases that had been linked to the facility. The move drew criticism from student employees and students and a Change.org petition entitled “Keep the UNR fitness center OPEN” gathered 4,150 signatures in less than 48 hours after the initial announcement. 

On Oct. 9, 2020, Sandoval announced that all classes were to be moved to complete online instruction on Nov. 30. Additionally, it was announced that spring classes would start on Monday, Jan. 25—a week later than planned—and spring break would be canceled. Students will instead will have the following days without instruction during the spring semester: Feb. 25, Mar. 9, Mar. 10 and April 21.

Taylor Avery can be reached at tavery@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @travery98.