Dear Brandeis Students and Faculty:

The outbreak of COVID-19 has been a tremendous threat to the well-being of every individual in the community. The number of people getting infected and being confirmed has been growing at a rate that cannot be ignored.

According to the email from Brandeis University, on Friday, a resident of the town of Wellesley tested positive with Mass DPH for COVID-19. (https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/06/nation/wellesley-resident-tests-positive-coronavirus-prompting-closure-elementary-middle-schools/ What is more upsetting is that , according to the email, “some Brandeis students recently attended an out-of-state conference. Conference organizers have notified these students that two attendees have subsequently tested positive for coronavirus.” Even though the conference was held in a large size, it is NOT the reason to have campus-wide operations running as usual. The threat is already in front of us. The potential is right on the campus where all Brandeis students and faculty are working and studying. Being acknowledged that COVID-19 can be transmitted at an incredibly fast speed, we strongly urge Brandeis University to hold ALL classes online for the well-being of ALL Brandeis students and faculty. It is the school’s responsibility to protect its people from the virus and lower the risk to the minimum.



According to Harvard Health Publishing, “A person who is asymptomatic may be shedding the virus and could make others ill.” (https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/as-coronavirus-spreads-many-questions-and-some-answers-2020022719004#q4 We students are very concerned about attending lectures during this special period, especially for classes that are larger than 50+ capacity. Therefore, we strongly urge the school to take all classes ONLINE. By doing this, we can both protect ourselves by lowering the risk of infection and maintain our usual study process. Until now, USC, Stanford, University of Washington, Seattle University have implemented live streams campus-wide. Many other colleges are now actively planning on taking all classes online. This movement will greatly decrease the chance of spreading the virus.



We all have trust in Brandeis faculty, students and administers that our concerns with the urgent problem will be fully and thoughtfully addressed.