Colleges and universities are basically small cities. They have their own buildings, roads, retail shops, and rules. They also have a particular rhythm, fueled by the day-to-day happenings that take place on campus.
As colleges and universities have struggled to devise policies to respond to the quickly evolving situation, here are links to The Chronicle’s key coverage of how this worldwide health crisis is affecting campuses.
But with the advent of the coronavirus, campuses are now devoid of most students — and visitors — with face-to-face gatherings of virtually any kind prohibited. It has stripped colleges of the rituals and events that are part of the fabric of everyday life for students and faculty and staff members.
Harvard University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Howard University are among the growing number of institutions that have scuttled traditional commencement ceremonies for some yet-to-be-named alternative. At the University of Arizona, the Spring Fling — a student-run carnival that draws more than 25,000 people — will be on hiatus for the first time in its 46-year history. At Purdue University, an undergraduate research symposium will now be a virtual event.
It’s the same story at campuses across the nation. Prospective-student visits, faculty-research talks, and competitive sports — all postponed, moved online, or canceled outright.
To gauge the coronavirus’s impact at a single institution, The Chronicle looked at the events calendar for Lehigh University, a private college in Pennsylvania that announced on March 13 it would move to distance learning through the end of the spring semester, on May 13. The college is still deciding the fate of its commencement, but for other events held at Lehigh, the outcome was clear. Here’s a by-the-numbers look at some of what won’t be happening as originally planned.
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Group information sessions and campus tours
Admissions staff members talk up the university to prospective students and their parents, typically followed by a student-guided tour of campus. Virtual tours and YouTube clips are it for now, with in-person visits expected to resume in the summer.
4
Awards banquets
Including the 2020 Honors Convocation, hosted by the provost’s office. Last year more than 500 students received awards.
1
Lehigh University Graduate Student 5K
An event where participants get to race the university’s president and the provost, with proceeds going to academic-research grants for Lehigh’s graduate students. It’s postponed for now.
2
Plays
Godspell, staged by theater-department students, and Finding Neverland, presented by the national touring company of the Broadway musical.
4
Conferences
Including the Center for Supply Chain Research Symposium (postponed until the fall), an undergraduate psychology and neuroscience conference, and a Sustainability Leadership Summit. An annual gathering on special-education law will now be held virtually.
6
Sports
Baseball, softball, tennis, rowing, lacrosse, and track and field had their seasons end abruptly. Lehigh’s men’s lacrosse team was 5-1 and had been set to face Army in its next match.
36
Lectures and seminars by faculty members, graduate students, and guest speakers
Topics include “Designing for Empathy on Social Media,” “Local and Nonlocal Poincaré Inequalities,” “Made in Nigeria, Made in China: Nigerian Mobility and Commerce in the Global South,” and “Tannic Acid: A Key to Reducing Environmental Impacts of Epoxy Thermosets.”
9
Student music performances
By the choir, the glee club, the wind ensemble, the jazz orchestra, the funk band, the philharmonic orchestra, and others.
5
Thursday Trivia Nights
A weekly event hosted by various student clubs and held at the Hawk’s Nest, a late-night dining spot in Lamberton Hall Student Center.
8
Community-outreach events
Including the 33rd annual International Bazaar, a Music with Mentors event, and a Spring Fling, sponsored by the institution’s Community Service Office, that brings members of the community on campus for crafts, games, and food.
7
Meditation sessions
Guided by Rabbi Steve Nathan at Taylor Gym.
3
Exhibits
“Art, Architecture, and Design,” a faculty exhibition; “British Abstraction: Three Views”; and “Worth Keeping: Preserving the Past/Informing the Future.”
10
Days of senior-portrait sittings
To be used in the university’s yearbook, Epitome. The photos are billed as an opportunity to “create lasting memories for your family.”
