Breanna Holbert, president of Chico State University’s Associated Students, knew her campus was going to close again this fall, though the decision came earlier than she predicted. Just a week into the semester, the university announced that it would shut down its dorms, and most students would need to move out within a week.
She was “100% expecting it” as coronavirus cases cropped up in the residence halls, she said. “I just knew.”
Some students went home to their families. Others moved off-campus with help from university housing, posting cheery pictures of their first apartments on Instagram. Students without other options were given the opportunity to stay, and 150 chose to remain on campus.
Holbert expects the closures to be hard on the school’s low-income students.
Most students “weren’t very happy,” she said. The move felt “monumental.”
“Students are going to have less access to things we usually would have provided, like Internet, printing, tutoring in person, access to the library, just to have a quiet study space not cramped with roommates or family …” she added. “I think that’s what a lot of our low-income students are going to miss out on.”
Like Chico State University, campuses across the country re-opened this fall only to close again as COVID-19 cases spiked. The growing list of schools includes California State University, North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and James Madison University, among others.
