President Julian Schuster announced the “phased departure” of student housing due to coronavirus in an email sent to students.
All student housing facilities on and off campus will close “out of an abundance of caution” according to an announcement tonight from the university’s COVID-19 Task Force.
Students won’t have to leave immediately. Housing and residential staff will help students move until March 22 through a phased departure. When students have to leave is determined off of how far away their permanent address is from the main campus.
“We know this is not the news some resident students want to hear, but we reach it in the interest of safety as we continue to adapt to changing conditions,” the email wrote.
Students who do not want to move may submit requests to stay. The COVID-19 task force will review the requests and contact students for follow-up information.
The campus housing closure came as no surprise to sophomore Meghan Storts.
“We assumed it was gonna happen, but not this quickly since classes haven’t even been cancelled,” Storts said.
Webster is not the first St. Louis area university to close student housing. Washington University in St. Louis asked its students to move out of campus-owned housing on Sunday. Students at Maryville University have until Thursday to move out.
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson confirmed today a Saint Louis University (SLU) student is the city’s first confirmed case of coronavirus. So far, SLU’s housing remains open.
For requests or questions, contact the resident housing and residential life office at housing@webster.edu or (314) 246-4663.
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