To Students Who Wish to Live on Campus:
We regret to inform you that recent developments require that the university move from a registration process to one requiring review and approval to stay in university housing.
This shift is in response to increasingly restrictive measures the federal and state governments have recommended over the past 24 hours, and exceptionally high number of registrations received: as of 11 a.m. today, 726 of you had completed the form.
As much as we appreciate your desire to be on campus at this time, your health and safety—and that of the campus community—demands that we limit the number of students living in residence halls and other campus accommodations.
The risk of transmission of infection is simply too high to have so many of you in these relatively close quarters.
Effective today (Thursday, March 12), the university will allow students to stay on campus if they meet one of two criteria:
- Their home is abroad and they have no options for housing in the U.S. with relatives.
- Living somewhere other than on campus poses significant hardship (financial or otherwise) and/or risk to their health and well-being.
We recognize that a number of our students face circumstances that make living off campus inadvisable or untenable. This application process does not seek to increase the difficulties that those situations already create. The university is committed to meeting student needs, but cannot be as flexible with regard to preferences.
As a result, if your reasons to stay on campus do not meet either of these criteria, please do not return to campus—or, if you need to gather items essential to continuing your education, please arrive and depart no later than 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 17. If you are on campus and do not meet either of these criteria, please prepare to depart by that same deadline.
Please note that student employment or volunteering does not constitute a reason to stay that the university can approve. We will provide additional details in a subsequent communication, but can assure those students participating federal work-study still will be compensated regardless of whether their duties allow them to work remotely.
You can find the form to apply to stay in campus housing online. The deadline is MIDNIGHT, Friday, March 13.
If you do not meet one of these criteria, please do not apply to stay on campus.
All students will receive a second communication regarding the evaluation process and notification timeline.
We regret the need to make this change to our housing practices during this time of remote learning, and for the disruption it is causing to your spring semester. Unfortunately, the hazards of this outbreak require that we take more significant measures to protect each of you and the broader campus.
Barbara R. Snyder
President
Ben Vinson III
Provost and Executive Vice President