Emerson will hold all classes during the first week of the spring semester remotely, college officials announced Tuesday evening.
The college will hold all courses on the Boston campus remotely from Jan. 10 to Jan. 17, with in-person courses resuming on Jan. 18, Interim President Bill Gilligan wrote in a Tuesday evening email. It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday evening whether or not the Los Angeles and Kasteel Well campuses would follow suit.
The announcement comes amid the college’s biggest outbreak of COVID-19 to date. Since Dec. 13, Emerson has reported 85 positive COVID-19 tests, bringing the semester-long total to 206. The surge at Emerson mirrors the dramatic statewide uptick in COVID-19 cases. On Tuesday, Massachusetts reported 5,531 new cases, 1,612 hospitalizations, and 58 deaths, according to the Department of Health.
Emerson joins Harvard University in implementing a remote model for the beginning of the spring semester. Other schools in the area have yet to follow suit.
In December 2020, the college also shifted the first week of the spring semester online—relegating students to quarantine until receiving a negative test. Emerson also delayed the move-in date for on-campus students by a week. The college has yet to announce whether or not the move-in date will be shifted.
