The U.S. Naval Academy is borrowing the dormitory rooms of its next-door neighbor to provide COVID-19 friendly living spaces in the fall to its midshipmen, officials said.
Because the academy set aside about 130 rooms in its Bancroft Hall dormitory for quarantine and isolation spaces — if necessary — that means several hundred midshipmen will need to reside elsewhere. St. John’s College, located just outside the Naval Academy’s walls, is coming to the rescue.
The liberal arts college is moving to online-only instruction for the fall semester because of the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning their dorms will be empty.
The move means more than 300 midshipmen will be able to return to the service academy for the start of the fall classes. A number of officers and senior enlisted personnel also will set up their offices in the St. John’s College dorm rooms, officials said.
The midshipmen who will be living in the civilian college dorm rooms will follow the same health and safety requirements as their peers living on academy grounds, officials said.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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