Coronavirus: outrage as Harvard gives students five days to leave campus
- Some undergraduates unable to return home at short notice, while others have limited internet access off campus and cannot attend courses online
- Thousands of students left scrambling as Stanford, Columbia, Princeton and other US universities cancel in-person classes
Harvard undergraduates on Tuesday were abruptly given five days to leave campus and told to stay home until the end of the semester, an order that drew outrage from students who are also juggling midterm exams, senior projects and daily classes.
The announcement came as universities across the US, including Stanford, Columbia and Princeton, moved to cancel in-person classes and move instruction online amid fears over the new coronavirus, leaving thousands of students scrambling to find their way home while their professors puzzle over how to move weeks of courses to the internet.
Harvard psychology student Silvana Gomez did not know how she would afford to return on such short notice to her family’s home in New Jersey. She is also worried about the risk she could pose to her father, who is 66 and has a health condition that could make him more vulnerable to the virus.
“It’s terrifying. I’m definitely very scared right now about what the next couple days, the next couple weeks look like,” she said. “I have to stay on campus and if Harvard doesn’t allow me to stay on campus, then I really don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Harvard senior Nick Wyville does not know how he will take online courses at his family’s home near Anniston, Alabama. It is a rural area, he said, and the closest internet access is at the county’s only Starbucks, miles from his home.