Students sit inside a University of Colorado Boulder classroom on January 28, 2020. (Matthew Mendoza/CU Independent)
A cloud of anxiety hung over University of Colorado Boulder students Wednesday.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus that has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization, has forced university campuses across the nation to cancel in-person classes and migrate online, with CU Boulder soon to be among them. The university announced Wednesday that beginning March 16 all classes will be online for the remainder of the spring semester.
The news has left many CU students feeling that their semester is being cut short. Some who are out of state are even going home early.
“It is really upsetting,” said Tea Marder, an advertising major in the College of Media, Communication and Information. “Boulder is amazing and I never want to leave … but the (coronavirus) is also terrifying.”
Marder, who hails from Bergen County, New Jersey, said her parents are too worried about the virus’ rapid spread and told her to pack her things and come home where Marder intends to finish her online classes. For many out-of-state students, it means saying goodbye to friends, many of whom they just met.
“I can handle leaving the college but I can’t handle leaving friends,” said Tyler Milner, a biology major who hails from Long Island, New York.
While Colorado remains without any reported deaths due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, its number of confirmed cases continues to climb, with the most recent report being 33 as of Wednesday afternoon. In the United States, the disease has killed 38 with more than 1,000 people known to be infected. Globally, the virus has killed over 4,000 with more than 125,000 cases.
“I can handle leaving the college but I can’t handle leaving friends.”
Tyler Milner, CU Boulder freshman
Stress is present in students, but many said they feel reassured by their demographic, believing that young people are less at risk of being in a critical condition should they contract the disease. What’s more present in their minds is finishing school.
“None of us would have ever thought we’d have to finish our semester online,” said Zoelle Korogodsky, a business major who hails from Long Island, New York. “This day, it doesn’t feel real.”
Some students are worried that online classes will prove to be a challenge.
“It seems like it will be a detriment to my education,” said freshman Samuel Hatton, an aerospace major.
Hatton fears that it will be easier to become distracted and be harder to retain information while taking classes online.
Those planning to stay in Boulder and in their on-campus residence halls feel their accommodation is up in the air.
“We are on our toes (about leaving the dorms),” said Emily Waybright, a strategic communications major who hails from Northern California.
Dan Jones, CU Boulder associate vice chancellor, said in a statement Wednesday that currently, the situation does not warrant “the type of disruption to our students caused by closing the residence halls.”
In fact, the university intends to keep the campus open despite canceling in-person classes. Libraries, dining halls and recreation centers will all remain staffed and open for use. But Waybright fears if the outbreak grows, CU may have no choice but to send its students home.
While many students said they feel the university had no choice when it made its decision, some are skeptical of what they see as “mass hysteria.”
“We’ve handled it so poorly,” said Ashley Zbylski, a Colorado native and strategic communications major. Zbylski said that many are being fed disinformation through platforms like social media and said she does not believe the university has a solid plan for how to address the panic.
Zbylski said the email sent by CU Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano Wednesday morning informing students about the campus’ plans was too vague. She fears that the university may extend its decision to cancel in-person classes into the fall while experts work to create a vaccine that may be months away.
“I feel like they have no end goal,” Zbylski said.
Contact CU Independent Editor-in-Chief Robert Tann at robert.tann@colorado.edu.
