Students and faculty are packing up and leaving Middlebury College this week as it switches to remote instruction to avoid the further spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Middlebury has 2,500 students and is a major economic driver of its small community. Area stores and businesses, as well as nonprofits where many students volunteer, will feel the effect as students pack their belongings and find a way to leave a week early, this Friday, for spring break.
Students and faculty were informed Tuesday in a letter from Middlebury President Laurie Patton to prepare for the possibility that the remainder of the term will be conducted remotely.
“Given how fluid the situation is, we may need to adjust this plan as necessary,” Patton wrote. “We know that there are a variety of opinions as to how communities might respond to the spread of coronavirus. We are making decisions in real time in a rapidly evolving situation.”
Patton said the school “will re-evaluate this new policy in the first two weeks of April.”
“It’s going to be a double whammy,” said Fred Kenney of Addison County Economic Development Corp., noting that businesses are expected to be hit hard by planned downtown road construction this summer. “It’s going to have a huge impact on Middlebury’s downtown businesses.”
It’s also having an impact on students, for example seniors who don’t know whether or not they will be returning to campus for commencement, said former Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, who teaches at Middlebury and has been speaking with colleagues faced with the unfamiliar task of learning how to teach remotely.
Douglas, who has been associated with the college since he was a student there, said he doesn’t recall an earlier closure for illness. The last time Middlebury closed was in May of 1970, after four students who were protesting the Vietnam War were killed by the National Guard at Kent State University in Ohio, he said. That closure lasted for a few weeks, he said.
“This is certainly a more significant interruption,” he said.
[Get live updates on COVID-19 in Vermont at vtdigger.org/coronavirus.]
Middlebury sophomore Ruhamah Weil, who comes from just outside of Geneva in Switzerland, spoke to her father Tuesday about her options for staying with family or friends. Students can apply to stay on campus at Middlebury, but she said she didn’t know if she would be accepted because she has family in the U.S.
“It’s been a stressful day; I know that this is really putting a dent in any plans that have been made for life in general,” said Weil, a political science and film major. She added that she knows Middlebury administrators are grappling with a difficult and complex situation.
“Students understand that it hasn’t been an easy decision for the college to make,” she said. “I’m not faulting the administration in any way. It does seem like everyone is a little frantic right now.”
In a statement to VTDigger Tuesday, the University of Vermont said it would switch to remote operations if a COVID-19 case were to be confirmed within the UVM community.
“We are aware that this is a rapidly evolving situation and circumstances may warrant taking a different approach,” said Gary Derr, vice president for operations and public safety.
With 12,000 students, UVM is a major economic and social force in Vermont’s largest city, and a decision to switch to remote instruction and limit campus services and operations would have a big impact in a community where school is usually in full swing at this time of year.
Bennington College said in a statement it was also preparing for the possibility of shifting to remote instruction. “Our goals are to protect health and safety and to allow our students to make progress on or complete their degrees with minimal interruption,” a spokesperson said.
St. Michael’s College in Colchester said it was “actively preparing for the possibility that we may need to ask students to delay their return to campus and to transition to online classes temporarily after spring break,” which begins Friday. “That decision could be made at any time between today and Friday, March 20, should conditions and recommendations from the Health Department change,” the school said in a statement.
Middlebury, like many institutions, has called for “social distancing” strategies. In her note to the campus community, Patton said all visits to campus had been canceled — including those from prospective students, alumni, speakers, job applicants, and performing artists.
“To the extent possible, visits and meetings will need to be conducted remotely,” she said.
Douglas said the school will be offering seminars to faculty on how to teach remotely.
“I hope we’ll look back in a month or two and say, ‘Gosh we were silly to worry about this,’” Douglas said.
Contributing: Sarah Asch
Clarification: This story has been updated to include information that Middlebury College President Laurie Patton plans to reevaluate the plan for remote operations in April.
