Local universities are telling students to stay home and resume classes online, at least for a while.
Quinnipiac University, Yale, and University of New Haven made those announcements in response to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Yale is on spring break. President Peter Salovey issued a statement Tuesday night telling students remaining on campus to leave by Sunday, and announcing that classes will take place online, not in classrooms, after the break through through April 5. Read his full statement here.
Quinnipiac, which is also on break, will transition to online courses for the remainder of the semester, according to a Tuesday announcement.
Southern Connecticut State University announced that it is closing the campus for five days for a deep cleaning and disinfecting of all buildings, after learning that a student “recently attended a meeting in another state where another participant subsequently tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus. The student has self-quarantined at home and is showing no signs of illness after 10 days.”
Classes will be canceled for the next five days. Then, after spring break, they will resume online, until at least April 5, according to the announcement.
On Monday Unviersity of New Haven announced it has canceled all in-person classes through at least March 24.
Universities have also been canceling athletic and cultural events.
One exception, for now, is Yale Repertory Theatre. It has a new play opining, a revival of Raisin in The Sun. It is refunding tickets to the show, following Yale’s directive to cancel gatherings of 100 or more people. However, it plans for now to make available a smaller new batch of tickets, for free, and let people have room not to sit so closely together.
The theater explained the concept thusly, in a press release:
All existing orders placed prior to March 9 have been canceled and will be refunded. New bookings for each performance, with a total capacity of 100 audience members, will be available beginning on Wednesday, March 11 at 2PM. All tickets under this new policy will be distributed free of charge, limit two per person.
“We are committed to sharing director Carl Cofield’s magnificent production with as many people as possible. Because most performances already far exceed the new 100-person maximum capacity, we have determined that the most equitable solution is to immediately cancel and refund all existing orders and start fresh,” said Artistic Director James Bundy.
Bundy continued, “We also are committed to making Lorraine Hansberry’s masterpiece as accessible and comfortable as possible for all who attend. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the virus can spread between people who are within six feet of one another. Because the capacity of the University Theatre is greater than 600 seats, we are able to invite audience members to reserve up to two tickets for the date of their choice, entirely free of charge, and provide adequate space to ensure each person’s enjoyment.”
All seating will be general admission so that each audience member can choose where they wish to sit. In addition, hand sanitizer and wipes will be available onsite.
All tickets purchased or reserved prior to March 9 have been canceled and will not be honored.
Complimentary tickets, up to two per person, will be available beginning Wednesday, March 11 at 2PM, online at yalerep.org, by phone (203) 432‑1234, and in person at the Box Office (1120 Chapel Street).
A wait list will be available beginning one hour prior to the start of each performance, but under no circumstances will a performance exceed 100 audience members.
All group bookings, including student groups, are canceled; and new group requests cannot be accommodated.
