Penn State has announced that it will begin welcoming student-athletes back to campus beginning next week.

Thursday evening, the school released a statement and plan regarding the return of student-athletes to State College. A return date is set for June 8 with 75 football players heading back to campus. The school also stated that voluntary workouts would be able to begin on June 15.

Workouts will be limited in size and will not exceed 20 student-athletes.

“We are looking forward to the return of our student-athletes in the coming weeks and hope this is the first steps to a full return for the fall,” said athletic director Sandy Barbour. “We are appreciative of President Barron for including ICA in this first wave of students coming back to campus.

“We are very confident in our plan and will continue to keep the health, safety and wellbeing of our students, coaches, staff and community as our top priority,” continued Barbour. “Our outstanding sports performance group worked with medical experts at both the University, conference and national level, as well as University leadership to develop an extensive return to campus plan for our student-athletes, staff and facilities.”

Penn State will also implement and enforce the following protocols, per the release:

  • Education for all student-athletes, coach and staff on Penn State’s COVID safety protocols.
  • Mandatory daily health screening questionnaire and temperature check for student-athletes, coaches and staff.
  • Required use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
  • Adherence to social distancing guidelines for meetings and workouts, including the use of smaller groups for performance enhancement session.
  • Enhanced cleaning for all athletics facilities.
  • Limited and monitored access to facilities.