President John L. Crain sent an email to students, faculty and staff explaining that face-to-face classes will not meet from Friday, March 13 to Tuesday, March 17. Beginning Wednesday, March 18, classes will be delivered remotely, which includes online formats. Campus operations will continue, and staff and faculty are expected to report to work.

“The health, safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff are our paramount concern,” said Crain. “The completion of the educational goals of our students is secondary only to their health, safety and well-being.”

According to the Office of Student Engagement, the following events are cancelled:

• Lions LEAD Retreat (March 20, 2020)
• The Big Event (March 28, 2020)
• The Big Event Rain Date (April 4, 2020)
• Mulan Movie Bus Trip (March 31, 2020)  
• All Greek Week Events and Activities (March 29, 2020 to April 3, 2020)
• Strawberry Jubilee (April 8, 2020)
• International Student’s Walmart Bus Trip (April 9, 2020)  
• The MISA Banquet (April 21, 2020)
• Leadership Luncheons (March 26, 2020 and April 22, 2020)
• All Social Events from this weekend forward including but not limited to alcohol, non-alcohol, community service, official organization gatherings, sisterhood/brotherhood events, etc.
• All travel is on hold until further notice, this affects all future travel for student groups and Student Government Association travel grants.

In addition, Harlem Globetrotters event has been postponed until further notice, and all Southland Conference athletic competitions are suspended through March 30.

“From this weekend forward, all university-sponsored events involving a significant number of participants will be cancelled or rescheduled,” said Crain. “Additional communication regarding these events will be forthcoming in the days ahead.”

Earlier in the day, Provost and Vice-President of Academic Affairs Tena Golding shared encouragement and reassured successful completion of the semester. 

Golding said, “Amidst all this uncertainty, I am still certain of this – we have an extraordinary community of dedicated faculty and staff who will band together and do whatever it takes to ensure a successful completion of the semester.”

The message from the president can be viewed here.