In a Washington Post op-ed, President Lara Tiedens explained that Scripps’ decision to move to remote-only learning for the fall 2020 semester was based on coronavirus data and the College’s community values. “We are choosing to make data- and values-based decisions informed by the critical public health situation in Los Angeles and the country, and to prioritize the health of our faculty, staff, students, and the broader community that surrounds us,” she said. “We know we have a better chance of meeting the experience-based expectations of our students by providing courses and faculty-student connections remotely as we did this past spring. We do not believe that the benefits of in-person interaction supersede the potential life and death consequences of gathering in person on campus.”