Harvard University students were given just five days to pack up, leave the Cambridge, Massachusetts, campus and not come back until the end of the semester, in a move that drew outrage from students who say they have been left scrambling between making travel arrangements, school work and classes.
The announcement came as universities and colleges across the United States began cancelling in-person teaching and moving to teaching online amid growing fears about the spread of the new coronavirus.
Schools and places of worship nationwide have closed, and concerts, election rallies, sporting events and conferences have been called off in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19, which has infected more than 1,000 people in the US and killed at least 28, according to official counts.
The move prompted Harvard students to create an emergency contact list that connects students seeking temporary housing and transportation with those who can provide it. As of Wednesday morning, more than 100 faculty and students offered guest rooms, spare beds, couches and cars.
Emma Forbes, a second-year student at Harvard, said her parents have a home in Attelboro, Massachusetts, with an unused room in the basement as well as two cars that can be of help.
Forbes, 21, told Al Jazeera that the Sunday deadline was “not feasible for everyone for various reasons”.
She added the measure assumes that everyone can afford to go home and has a home to go to in the first place.
“Many people still have not yet figured out how they are going to go home or where they are going to go, because some people don’t have a home to go to,” she said.