My more cynical interpretation is that the school wanted to shift the onus onto the students, because more effective measures would have affected the schools ability to charge tuition at it’s full rate.

I don't think it's cynical. there is no way schools reasonably and realistically thought they could control COVID in a university environment. If they did they were negligent. It's 100% about cashing the checks before the withdrawal period. Who wants to pay $40,000 for online classes.

Young kids is completely different we aren't doing enough and there aren't a ton of other options but to open schools. But in person college for adults? not a necessity

Kick the students out, keep their tuition. Be done with it.

this was the unstated purpose of calling all the students back to campus in the first place. if there is an outbreak on campus or in the community, just blame the students—not the adults running society.

Yes, that's more or less their plan.

I mean, they aren't going to expel the students from their university, but they are going to drop the pretense of in-person classes.

>wrote a letter jointly telling the college students if they did not shape up The universities _would be closed_

I think from this we could infer that they will take responsibility when they think it becomes clearer that students will not sufficiently comply with the public safety directives.

It just so happens that in your scenario the college makes more money by 'taking responsibility'.