Dr. Anthony Fauci is not certain that students will return to campus this fall. (PHOTO COURTESY: Mandel Ngan / AFP – Getty Images/NBCNews.com)

By Matt Noonan

Speaking earlier today at a Senate hearing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, hinted that it might not be wise for college campuses to welcome back its students for the fall semester.

Fauci was asked about college campuses reopening its doors to students by Senator Lamar Alexander and admitted he would feel a lot safer with a vaccine to protect the student body.

“If this were a situation where we had a vaccine, that would really be the end of that issue in a positive way,” said Fauci to Alexander.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if a vaccine will be available for college students, along with faculty and staff for the upcoming fall semester, but Fauci does hope that one of the eight vaccines that are currently being developed will be in “advanced trials by late fall or early winter.”

If students are not able to return to college campuses, then it is highly doubtful that we will see athletic events take place, including football. The NCAA president Mark Emmert said last Friday that if no students were on campus this fall, then no games will be played.