Virus concerns close Middlebury College campus

Middlebury College is moving up its spring break and telling students to remain home until further notice. These measures are in response to concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

middlebury.edu

In a lengthy series of Tweets released on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, the college announced that spring break would begin this Friday, March 13 (one week earlier than originally scheduled), and on-campus classes would not resume until further notice. The college plans to offer remote instruction following a two-week break. The situation is to be reviewed by the college in the first weeks of April.

"We are aware that the impact on everyone—students, faculty, and staff—will be great," one of the Tweets stated. "However, our top priority is the health and welfare of the entire Middlebury community, and to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19."

Most students will be required to leave the Middlebury campus. Those who cannot return home will require prior approval to remain on campus. They must submit a form to the college no later than 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 12. Middlebury's student population includes about 10 percent international students. The college acknowledged that some of those students may be at increased risk of exposure to COVID-19 if they returned home.

All spring athletic activities, including practices and home and away games, have been suspended until further notice. Group events are limited to no more than 120 people. Dining service operations will limit the number of students in the dining halls at any one time. And no visitors - including prospective students, alumni, job applicants, speakers, performers - will be permitted on campus.

The measures taken by the college may appear extreme, since the campus is located in a rural setting and no cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the area.  The administration addressed this in an online statement:

Unfortunately, it is not possible to isolate the campus, and we have limited ability to have control over when students or others leave campus. The strategy we've outlined focuses on social distancing in order to prevent a local or regional surge in cases and preserve critical medical services. Due to shared facilities, including dorms, bathrooms, dining facilities, classrooms, college environments are not ideal places for social distancing. Dispersing students, ideally before there is a known case on campus, allows for the strongest level of social distancing.

The college, which sits about 10 miles north (Route 30) of the center of Whiting, has opened a web page with coronavirus-related questions and answers:

Coronavirus FAQs