It's Brian Lehrer, and this is my daily politics podcast from WNYC Studios.

It's Monday, May 4th.

So in the last few days, a number of colleges have announced their plans to reopen this fall in person. The list now includes

Whitworth University, Baylor University, and Haverford College, as well as some others. Here's Brown

University president, Christina Paxson, arguing that reopening college campuses this fall

should be a national priority. She uses that term,

national priority for the well-being of students, but also of the economy.

Universities and colleges all over the country are major employers, where some of the most

stable employers that there are out there. And my fear is that if a lot of, especially small colleges can't open,

it will be very, very difficult for them to stay in business. And that will hurt their

workforces. And it will also strand students who are partway through programs in colleges

that can't continue. Brown University President Christina Paxon on NPR last week.

She said she plans to open school with the help of testing, contact tracing, and separating six students.

Here's one more college president who's been in the news on this.

Purdue President,

Mitch Daniels, said on Good Morning America and lots of other media last week that he is determined to try to open in person and with a full student body at that Indiana campus in the fall,

students and faculty and staff total 50,000 people at Purdue on a relatively compact campus, if you've ever been there.

He made the media rounds, not just GMA, to say he really wants to reopen despite the density.

And yet Daniels, who some of you know is the former Republican governor of Indiana before Mike Pence,

acknowledged on Good Morning America that there are hurdles

with residence halls, dining facilities, class sizes, and older faculty and staff, and he admits

he hasn't figured it out. We don't pretend to have a plan yet, although we have many, many ideas,

...