EC shifts spring semester online

Elmhurst College extends online learning until the end of the spring semester after President Troy VanAken announced the decision in a campus-wide email on March 20. 

“As we continue to monitor and respond to the global COVID-19 pandemic, we have reached the difficult decision to extend online instruction through the end of the Spring Term,” VanAken stated in the email. 

Students who signed up to live on campus during the closing of campus were asked to reapply for housing before March 22, putting stricter restrictions on who can remain on campus through April 13. 

VanAken stated that the Office of Residence Life will be reaching out to students with instructions on how to proceed with on-campus housing throughout the remainder of the semester. 

“The Office of Housing and Residence Life will provide more information soon for residential students, including those who already have left campus,” VanAken stated.

Plans for commencement have not been sorted out as of yet, but students are scheduled to graduate on May 24.

The decision to continue online until the end of the semester came after VanAken sent out an email on March 16 stating that EC would extend online learning until April 13. 

“Given the ongoing threat posed by the spread of COVID-19, and drawing from state and federal recommendations, online-only instruction at Elmhurst will continue until at least Monday, April 13,” VanAken stated in the March 16 email.

EC announced to students that the school would commence online learning on March 16 in an email sent out March 12 with the original goal of returning to campus on March 30.