Two of the most prominent universities in the country are among those temporarily suspending classes on campus. The Harvard Crimson reports:
All Harvard courses will move to remote instruction beginning March 23 as a result of a growing global coronavirus outbreak, University President Lawrence S. Bacow announced in an email Tuesday morning. The University will also ask students not to return from spring break.
And the Stanford Daily writes:
Santa Clara County, which has over 40 confirmed cases, reported its first death on Monday. In light of coronavirus’ proximity, Stanford has suspended all winter overseas study programs, moved classes online and canceled in-person finals. No students have tested positive for the virus yet, according to the University.
More than 40 U.S. colleges have canceled in-person classes because of the coronavirus as of Tuesday morning. The colleges enroll a total of more than 600,000 students and include Columbia University, Princeton University, Rice University, Stanford University, Hofstra University and the University of Southern California, plus the University of Washington and a clutch of community colleges in Washington state.
Education technology specialist Bryan Alexander of Georgetown University has been leading an effort to track coronavirus-related higher education closures. He expects to see many more in the coming days and weeks. “Higher education has a very strong herd mentality,” he says, “so I think once University of [Washington]made a shift to teaching online, I think that really got everyone excited.”