Student’s positive COVID-19 test, death of a parent anguish Kentucky university chief

A Kentucky State University student has tested positive for coronavirus, Kentucky State University President M. Christopher Brown II said in a statement.

Brown said Wednesday night that other members of the Frankfort university’s community also had been hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

The parent of a student died Tuesday from COVID-19 complications, Brown said.

An alumnus with COVID—19 is now breathing on his own after being removed from a ventilator, he said.

In another case, Brown’s co-worker confirmed that the co-worker’s father is now fully recovered from a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.

And Brown’s mother called him to share that he now has three family members in the hospital (one of whom is on life support) battling COVID-19. He didn’t specify where the other patients lived.

“How do I parse the happiness for the recoveries with the angst of those who remain unwell and the death of the parent of a student trying to complete their classes online?” Brown said in the statement.

“How can our students master learning when their fathers and mothers are literally dying in the other room as they try to watch a lecture on a cellphone?“

Brown assured seniors that while the date for commencement is unknown, an extra-special celebration will honor the Spring 2020 graduating class.

He asked students and others in the KSU community to remain strong and flexible.

“As the agency head for a public university with thousands of students and employees, it is my daily prayer and ambition that no person becomes infected because of my administration’s actions or inactions,” Brown said.

This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 7:27 AM.