Earlham College President Anne Houtman announced this morning that all in-person classes will be moved online for the duration of the spring semester, due to growing concerns about COVID-19/ coronavirus.
Face-to-face classes will be suspended at the end of regularly scheduled activities on Friday, March 13. Earlham begins spring break on Monday, March 17. Faculty will begin delivering coursework online to students no later than Wednesday, March 25.
“I made this decision out of concern for every member of the Earlham community,” Houtman says. “We recruit students from all 50 states and around 70 countries, and have extensive study abroad programs. Though some colleges are moving classes online for a two-week period after their spring break, we felt we needed to consider the uncertainties and challenges a temporary closure might pose for our students, particularly our international students who cannot go home for a short period and return later,” she says.
“Given the current spread of COVID-19, it is unlikely the situation will improve sufficiently to allow us to return to our regular course delivery at the end of March.”
All campus events, including athletics, and college-sponsored student travel have been canceled.
Decisions about commencement, May Term and summer travel will be made later.
Earlham Graduate Programs in Education will continue to offer in-person classes, as scheduled. However, the Earlham School of Religion will also move to online course delivery.
The college has established a call center to receive questions from members of the public. Please call (765) 983-1870. Questions also can be sent via email at earlhamcollege@earlham.edu.
For more information about the college’s ongoing response to the coronavirus, please visit www.earlham.edu/coronavirus.