Harvard Students Told To Vacate Dorms Until End Of Semester

Harvard University has asked students to move out of houses and first-year dorms by Sunday.

What Happened

Harvard University has issued guidelines to its students about vacating houses and first-year dorms by Sunday. The University gave these instructions due to “concerns” about the coronavirus. In a statement, Harvard said this was an “effort to de-densify our community.”

Students are expected to move out of their residences no later than March 15 and should treat the Sunday move-out as an “ordinary May move-out.” The students were told to remove all their belongings from their suites.

Regarding classes, the University said, “Courses will continue to be taught remotely for the remainder of the semester. Faculty have received guidance about planning for remote teaching. Adaptations may require changes to the syllabus and assignments.”

Why It Matters

The coronavirus epidemic has started to affect classes as universities across the U.S. are shut down. University of California (UCLA), Duke University, Purdue University, Amherst College are just some of the campuses that are telling students to go home.

Harvard is in the state of Massachusetts, which has already declared a state of emergency. All conferences or large gatherings involving the state’s executive branch are either canceled or will be held online.

New York, California, Washington, Florida, Oregon, Ohio, Maryland, and Kentucky have all declared a state of emergency. The number of Covid-19 cases in the U.S. stands at 972, with 28 reported deaths.