Tompkins Cortland Welcomes Visit by SUNY Chancellor Malatras

Tompkins Cortland Community College welcomed State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras for a campus visit on Sunday, the day before the College resumes in-person classes after a temporary move to remote learning caused by COVID cases. The visit was the first time Chancellor Malatras has been to the Dryden campus since being appointed Chancellor on August 21.

Chancellor Malatras praised the College for taking the nearly two-week pause that prevented a major uptick in COVID cases on campus. This quick, decisive action taken on September 2 stopped at least one student who later tested positive for the virus from attending classes. Additional testing will be conducted on campus on Monday.

“I want to applaud TC3 President Orinthia Montague for leading her campus through a successful, two-week pause of in-person learning,” said Chancellor Malatras. “TC3 prevented a major outbreak in cases with swift and prudent action—and can now resume in-person learning this week. It’s proof that if we monitor cases closely, respond with proactive, urgent action, and achieve campus-wide compliance with safety protocols, we can control this virus.”

“Our plan was to be proactive in identifying cases in our campus community. We were able to find a small number of asymptomatic cases, which allowed us to work with the county health department to isolate those students and stop the spread,” President Montague said. “Our move to increase testing in partnership with Cayuga Health System gives us the confidence that we will be able to continue our in-person learning without any negative effects on the community. We appreciate the support and leadership shown by SUNY Chancellor Malatras in aggressively protecting the safety of our students and communities through the SUNY system.”