Emory University’s spring semester will start later than in past years and end earlier, and there will be no Spring Break, Georgia’s largest private university announced Thursday.
Emory’s spring semester will begin on Jan. 25 for most of its colleges and schools, and end on May 3. Final exams will be the following week.
The class schedules are being made to minimize exposure to COVID-19.
As for commencement, Emory said plans for “socially distanced, limited attendance” ceremonies are in the works.
A few students complained on social media that there will be no spring break. Other colleges and universities are making similar changes for the spring.
The university implemented fall semester plans that included a limited number of students on campus, no visitors and that all undergraduate and graduate student clubs and activities, including fraternities and sororities, will be held virtually.
Emory is planning to invite an additional 800 students on campus for in-person spring semester classes, and 375 are expected to live on campus, according to The Emory Wheel, the university’s student-run newspaper. All students living on campus are required to get a weekly COVID-19 test to remain in campus housing. Emory currently has about 1,500 students living on campus.
“I know this announcement is difficult for many of our undergraduate students who were hoping to return to campus in the spring,” Emory President Gregory Fenves said in a statement with details about the plans. “We would have liked to bring more students back, but this decision was based on the importance of students living in single occupancy rooms, the rate of transmission in the Atlanta area, and the health of all of our students, staff, and faculty.”
The university will add mental health services, officials said on Emory’s website.
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