Howard University in D.C. is moving to online instruction for undergraduate classes this fall.
University President Wayne A.I. Frederick made the announcement Friday in a letter.
“After consultation with our public health faculty experts, District of Columbia officials, university leadership, and monitoring the status of the COVID-19 pandemic locally, regionally and nationally, we have made the very difficult decision to move all undergraduate courses for the fall 2020 semester fully online, and nonresidential,” Frederick said.
Residence halls will be closed, except for The Axis, which is apartment living.
Frederick said that the challenges of getting students to campus safely, including following D.C. requirements that those from hot spots quarantine for 14 days, “have proven overwhelming.”
“More than 40% of our undergraduate students come from a state that is currently listed as a hot spot state, thus requiring 14 days of quarantine upon arrival to campus. This is already a difficult challenge to manage, but is additionally complicated as the list of hot spot states is updated frequently,” he said.
The university said that it will provide help to students with hardships that do not allow them to be successful in an online academic setting on a case-by-case basis.
Graduate and professional programs and courses will also be provided online primarily, with clinical training components face-to-face if required for accreditation or licensure.
A number of universities in the region, such as Georgetown and George Washington in D.C., and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, have said they will start the fall semester with online instruction.
- Sign up for WTOP alerts
- Latest coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
- Coronavirus FAQ: What you need to know
- Coronavirus resources: Get and give help in DC, Maryland and Virginia
- Fall school plans for DC, Maryland, Virginia systems during coronavirus
- Montgomery County backs down on keeping nonpublic schools closed
- Prince George’s Co. says some people wrongly denied COVID retests
- Maryland state coronavirus positivity rate drops below 4% for 1st time
Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.
