Salve Regina ranked #9 nationwide for pandemic, social justice responses during 2020-21

Salve Regina has been designated as one of the top 30 colleges and universities nationwide for its expert management and adaptation in the face of two prominent crises that have dominated the news during 2020-2021 – the coronavirus pandemic and the growing calls for social justice.

Salve Regina’s comprehensive responses and action steps addressing both crises earned it a Number 9 national ranking by “Great Value Colleges,” which has just released the findings of its “2020 Crises Response” survey highlighting how 30 U.S. colleges handled a difficult year well with expert responses. The final ranking is based on evidence of colleges keeping coronavirus cases on campus low, evidence of colleges making significant changes to promote racial justice and colleges that have strong strategies at the start of 2021.

Other institutions joining Salve Regina on the list include Williams College, Colgate University, Brown University, Princeton University, Cornell University, Georgetown University, Boston College, Syracuse University and Harvard University.

“Some institutions struggled to make the necessary changes,” editors wrote. “Others put measures in place that protected students, staff, and curricula and showed that they cared about equality. The 30 colleges in this article all excelled at those goals.”

The editors at “Great Value Colleges” praised Salve Regina for keeping its positive coronavirus cases low throughout 2020 and for quickly implementing a shelter in place order when there was an uptick in cases in February 2021. On the social justice front, the University was praised for several actions implemented on campus to advance training and awareness, including the establishment last fall of the Presidential Commission on Equity and Inclusion.

“By Dec. 11, 2020, Salve Regina University had only recorded 47 cases of coronavirus on campus,” the editors wrote. “In early 2021, the college was just as stringent with its coronavirus safety protocols. For example, the college ordered its students to shelter in place when coronavirus cases began rising … And in 2020, Salve Regina announced that it would take new steps to eradicate racism and make its campus more diverse.”

In addition to sourcing reporting on both crises during 2020-2021 by publications like “Inside Higher Ed,” the “New York Times,” “U.S. News & World Report,” “National Geographic,” and “Chronicle for Higher Education,” the “Great Value Colleges” editors compared enrollment figures to positive coronavirus cases on campus. Any college with more than 1,000 coronavirus infections and/or an infection rate higher than 10 percent of the college’s overall student population by Dec. 11, 2020, was excluded from the final ranking.