On March 12, I was in Knoxville on the campus of the University of Tennessee. At that point, I had heard rumblings about COVID-19, but it didn’t seem to be affecting everyday life very much. In an early morning Shakespeare class, I overheard a pair of students discussing the potential that campus would be shut down.
It seemed plausible. At that point, Ohio State University had already shuttered its doors for the time being, and it seemed logical that many other major universities across the country would begin doing the same. But as I sat outside the art and architecture building eating my lunch and listening to the Dan Le Batard Show on ESPN Radio discuss the cancellation of college basketball conference tournaments, I took a moment to look around.