Sudden end to in-person classes leaves some students feeling uncertain

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Ben Harteveld feels like he has never had a semester end normally during his time at Syracuse University.

“I’m still upset we didn’t get to finish a full semester,” said Harteveld, a sophomore architecture major. “We have yet to have an ending experience where we all say goodbye in a normal way.” 

SU announced Wednesday that it would transition all classes online for the remainder of the fall semester due to a recent spike in coronavirus cases on campus and in Onondaga County. The university first suspended in-person instruction in March, halfway through the spring semester, after the pandemic spread to the United States.

Now that SU has moved classes online for the rest of the semester, students feel uncertain about their departure from campus and what the transition to online learning means for their last week of classes. 

After hearing about rising COVID-19 numbers on campus on Tuesday, Julia Bolukh and her roommate, both architecture students, went to clean out their belongings from the studio. 

At the time, Bolukh, a freshman, didn’t think classes would move online so quickly. When SU announced Monday that it would transition to online learning after Nov. 16 due to rising cases both on campus and in the county, Bolukh was hopeful that she would have more studio time before the semester ended. 

“We were thinking of packing stuff up just in case, but we still thought we’d have studio today,” Bolukh said. “When we saw the update today, we knew we did the right thing.” 

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Some students were not surprised by the early transition to online learning, though they said it’s disappointing. 

Anika Carlson, a sophomore studying international relations and Italian, said SU was right to transition classes online now because it seems unable to trace where the spikes in cases are coming from. SU officials have said new student cases have increasingly been linked to community spread in central New York rather than to super-spreader events, like the one that caused a cluster of cases among students in early October.

“I wasn’t really shocked after getting the news yesterday, but it still feels kinda sudden,” said Nicholas Ihley, a junior biotech major. “I’m not gonna get to see anyone, everyone’s going to be sheltering in place.” 

Tommy McMullen, a junior television, radio and film major, said the transition won’t affect him as much because all of his classes were online already. 

Although Bolukh took some important materials from the studio, she said her professors haven’t clarified exactly what items she’ll need while working remotely. She’s not sure whether she should bring her drawing board home to Michigan, as it will be difficult to transport by car. 

As of now, Bolukh plans on leaving campus on Nov. 21. But some students said they’re planning to leave earlier as a result of the spike in cases. The university said Wednesday that students could depart from campus earlier than their scheduled check out time. 

Ihley planned on leaving campus the day before Thanksgiving, but he now thinks he’ll go home this weekend instead. 

SU has also closed libraries and gyms and limited dining halls to take-out only. 

“I think everyone’s been pretty stressed out recently, just seeing everyone go home doesn’t help that,” said Alexandra Grypinich, a sophomore architecture student. “With the libraries and the gyms closed now, it feels kind of pointless to be on campus.” 

Carlson tried to change her flight home, but it was too expensive. She’s keeping her original check-out time on Nov. 20. Harteveld and Grypinich also have flights home that day. 

McMullen is unsure when he’ll depart for the semester, but he thinks he’ll leave sometime next week. 

“I’m going to miss my friends,” McMullen said. “I was very upset (at the news), but I understand you gotta do what you gotta do.” 

Asst. Copy Editor Mira Berenbaum contributed reporting to this article