President Michael Drake Says Ohio State Plans For Spaced Out Football Seating

In Wednesday’s Board of Trustees meeting, Ohio State president Michael Drake announced that he is hopeful that the university will be able to have the football season with fans in a limited capacity.

There has been no confirmed decision on this yet, but Drake sounded optimistic in where Ohio State stands in regards to football being played with some sort of attendance.

“Regarding football, our hope and intention is to safely have a football season, with an audience spaced out in our stadium, but we haven’t made any final decisions,” Drake said in a press release.

In a conference call with the media back on May 20, athletic director Gene Smith said that limited capacity could involve approximately 20,000-50,000 people in the stands.

Drake also announced in the meeting that Ohio State will begin classes on Aug. 25 for the fall semester. The semester is set to end on Dec. 4, but in-person classes will only occur through Nov. 25, ending prior to the Thanksgiving break.

Along with this news, Ohio State also announced Wednesday that President Drake’s successor will be State University of New York chancellor Dr. Kristina M. Johnson. Drake said on Nov. 21 that he would be stepping down from his role following the 2019-20 academic year.

“We have learned that we can take advantage of online learning to provide innovative educational opportunities, and that will continue to be a part of the solution,” Drake said. “The things we value will also remain possible: rich, immersive educational experiences that cannot be recreated online, such as labs, studios, field studies, performances and clinical activities.”

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