By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Rising COVID-19 case levels in the local community and throughout the state have promoted Cleary University to initiate a soft close of its campus in Genoa Township.

According to most recent testing, there are 143 people in quarantine and 18 positive cases in the Cleary community. Officials say they continue to work with the Livingston County Health Department to report cases for contact tracing purposes. Officials say they are deeply committed to maintaining the safety of the campus and reducing the spread of COVID-19, thus the soft close is effective immediately and will last through April 17th.

All classes will be held remotely and campus activities, events, and tours are suspended. Also suspended are all athletic competitions, practices, and team activities and all student life on-campus activities. The wellness center is only open for COVID testing and there are to be no workouts or athletic activities in the wellness center or Lake Trust Stadium. All food will be delivered to residential halls and meals will only be provided to students who live in res life. Clancy’s and the Cleary Commons are also closed to the public.

A notice that was sent out by Interim President Dr. Emily Barnes says despite the sudden change, they remain optimistic that they’ll be able to resume athletic seasons and participate in commencement as planned. She says the temporary soft close is a measure to ensure that they can get a handle on COVID-19 and resume activities on April 17th. The notice is attached.