DBU Opens Campus for Summer and Fall Classes, Activities

Dallas, TX - After careful planning and consideration, the DBU Administration has announced plans to proceed with Fall activities and classes as scheduled. These plans include in-classroom teaching, as well as on-campus activities and various other events.

The University will plan to resume in-classroom instruction on July 6 in conjunction with the beginning of the Summer 2 term for a selected group of classes, which will be implemented with social distancing guidelines.

In addition, DBU's New Patriot Orientation (NPO) will take place as scheduled throughout the months of May and June, beginning with the first session on May 28-30. These events, which have been altered to adhere to proper social distancing guidelines, are designed to provide an overview of the University for incoming students and allow them to register for Fall classes. NPO is also available in an online format for those who plan to register virtually.

“It will be exciting to see new students coming to campus this summer and begin the plans to welcome back the rest of the student body in the Fall,” said Dr. Adam C. Wright, DBU President. “I could not be more proud of the work of our DBU Family has done throughout this pandemic crisis.”

During the shut-down period, DBU was considered an essential business and around 500 students remained on campus, while all instruction was moved to an online delivery system. While the University never closed or asked students to leave campus, it did initiate plans for altered student services in order to best maintain the health and safety of the campus.

“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, DBU has sought to respond quickly and cautiously to ensure the health of our students, as well as our faculty and staff,” explained Christa Powers, DBU General Counsel and Chair of the DBU Coronavirus Taskforce. “We continued to care for several hundred students who remained on campus, while also moving all classes to online instruction, something the University had been prepared to do for many years in the event of a crisis such as this.” 

Recently, the California non-profit, Educate to Career, which ranks schools according to their ability to successfully transition students from college into well-paying jobs, ranked DBU as a top tier institution for its response to the COVID-19 crisis. According to their report, DBU provided students with a robust online education, led by experienced faculty, all while being prepared to welcome students back in the Fall. 

"Our faculty and staff responded exceptionally well to the pandemic crisis, being able to pivot quickly to online instruction, all while maintaining engaging relationships with our students," stated Dr. Norma Hedin, DBU Provost. "We are eager for our students to return to campus later this summer and work with them in person, but we are also prepared should the country experience a similar shut-down in the future." 

During the summer months, DBU will be using a staggered approach to bring back to campus all faculty and staff, and it is working through plans to ensure classes in the Summer and the Fall are able to take place in a classroom environment while maintaining social distancing. 

Also, DBU leadership announced that although it may look different, DBU Chapel will take place twice a week (three times a week for first-year students), so that the DBU Family will continue its tradition of honoring the 10:00 a.m. Chapel hour. 

“DBU is an unapologetically Christ-centered institution, and worship is an essential element of that commitment,” explained Dr. Wright. “We know that Chapel will look different this Fall because of the continuing impact of the pandemic, but we are working to ensure that this aspect of spiritual development, as well as many other means of discipleship, will be at the center of our Fall experience.”

This past week, DBU made headlines with its first-ever Commencement Parade, with some 350 May 2020 graduates and more than 650 cars driving the campus to hear their names read and receive their diplomas. The event was hosted on DBU’s Facebook page, and was seen by more than 500,000 individuals.

“This Commencement Parade, in addition to a variety of other unique responses to the pandemic, highlight the ways in which DBU has sought to continue its mission responsibly and also lovingly,” stated Dr. Powers. “We are working hard to maintain that balance as we seek to re-open the campus fully for the Fall and continue our mission to produce Christ-centered servant leaders.”