Story at a glance
- Yale University is pushing back the start of the spring semester for undergraduate students and the Graduate School of Arts by one week amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.
- Online classes will now begin in January and in-person learning is scheduled to resume Feb. 7.
- Additionally, the university is shortening Spring Break by one week.
Yale University is pushing back the start of the spring semester for undergraduate students and the Graduate School of Arts by one week amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.
This Sept. 9, 2016 photo shows Harkness Tower on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Conn. AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz
The announcement was made Wednesday evening in a letter to students from University President Peter Salovey and University Provost Scott Strobel, which said the change was made due to “a recent, worldwide surge in COVID-19 cases, driven by the highly infectious Omicron strain,” Yale News first reported.
Online classes will now begin in January, and in-person learning is scheduled to resume Feb. 7. The newspaper reported Jan. 18 through Jan. 21 will be reserved for students to take online make-up final exams as many December finals were canceled. Additionally, the university is shortening Spring Break by one week.
“Of course, the past months have been difficult for many of us, but we also displayed unmatched strength, kindness, and ingenuity,” the letter read.” We are grateful for your tremendous efforts. Together, we will continue to navigate through this extraordinary moment in history.”
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The university reported 67 new cases in the Yale community on Dec. 20, according to COVID-19 data on the university’s website. Meanwhile, data from Johns Hopkins University shows there were more than 3,300 new cases and two deaths in Connecticut in the past day.
Other schools across the country have also implemented measures to mitigate the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant. Several, including Duke, UCLA, Northwestern and Stanford, have said they will begin the Spring term virtually, while Syracuse University announced it will also delay its start date by a week, according to The Washington Post.
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