The coronavirus pandemic has swept the United States on an exponential scale, upending ordinary life and cutting short the second half of EMU’s spring semester. Classes have transitioned to online, sports seasons have been abandoned, and students have been sent home as EMU joins the rest of the country in social distancing to resist the spread of the virus.

“It’s really sad to think that my days at EMU are over,” said senior Alyssa Gore. “We had to leave so abruptly that I didn’t get to say goodbye to a lot of people that I will likely never see again, and I was looking forward to the last few months that I had with everyone…I have spent the last four years working hard and now I likely won’t have a commencement ceremony or that time to celebrate with all the other seniors. It all feels like a strange dream.”

“It’s pretty sad,” said junior Andrew Livioco after moving out of his dorm. “I packed up my entire room, left my key there…”

Livioco, a volleyball Royal, was “just getting into the hang of things” when the season was called off. He said it has been difficult knowing that senior Martin Pou was in his last season and will not have a senior day. On top of that, two players, first-year Jack Corl and junior Josh Gomez, had just returned from injury and played in one game before the season was cut short. Livioco said he is working out and doing homework to pass the time, and waiting for a good day to go skating.

When EMU students left campus for spring break on Friday, February 28, COVID-19 hadn’t yet made its presence felt on the East Coast. On Saturday, March 7, the day before most students returned to campus, the Provost’s Office sent its first campus-wide email about the virus, informing the community that there were no reported cases in Virginia and that, “at this time, we are continuing to hold classes and operate according to our normal schedule.” The first case of the virus in Virginia was reported later that evening.

JMU told its students on Wednesday, March 11 not to return from their spring break. An email from the EMU President’s Office on the 11th said EMU was making decisions “day-by-day and hour-by-hour.” The following day, Dr. Huxman informed the community that classes were going online and all public events were canceled through April 3. EMU students were given a four-day weekend, and online classes started Tuesday, March 17.

Students were originally encouraged to stay on campus, but on Friday, March 13, the first coronavirus case was reported in Harrisonburg and EMU told students that “the decision to leave campus may be best.” On March 14, athletes were told their seasons were indefinitely suspended. Then, on Monday, March 16, the campus was informed that an EMU student reported symptoms of coronavirus and was taken to the hospital for testing. “Students, please make arrangements to return home,” read an email from Dr. Huxman that morning. 

Junior Anisa Leonard said the uncertainty of the whole situation was stressful and confusing. 

“It seemed like EMU was changing their mind about where they wanted us to go, and that was just sort of stressful,” she said. “On Monday, when they said we all had to go, everyone still had to zoom to class on Tuesday and Wednesday in the process of moving out, and some people were traveling. I don’t know, it’s just a big mess.”

In the middle of the stress and confusion, Leonard and her four roommates made the most of the situation after packing up their Parkwoods apartment on Monday.

“When there was the first case in Harrisonburg, and [EMU] sent out the email saying, ‘You can go, or you can stay,’ all four of us had planned to stay because we were all working jobs on campus,” Leonard said. “Then on Monday when they sent out the email that everyone had to go, the four of us spent the whole day packing up our entire apartment. We had a sleepover in the living room for our last night together, then on Tuesday we completely moved out. That was sort of sad.”

Leonard, SGA Secretary, joined a Zoom call Wednesday evening with the rest of the executive team. Their plan is to meet with the full SGA senate weekly moving forward. SGA is “trying to discern how to best support the student body during this time,” she said.

Leonard added that she is trying to keep a routine despite isolation: “I woke up, exercised, and got dressed to go to school in my bedroom.”

Elena Bernardi, a senior from Ethiopia, said her plan to visit her home country after graduation won’t be possible.

“A couple of my aunts were gonna come for my graduation, and that’s not happening, even though they had already gotten their tickets,” Bernardi said. Despite only a handful of confirmed cases in Ethiopia, “there was some news in Ethiopia that there were some xenophobic incidents where people were attacking people from Asia, and that’s being seen all over the world,” Bernardi said. Her family in Ethiopia has told her the streets there are empty.

Bernardi is most upset to be missing the in-class learning experiences. “I’ve been pretty upset about not getting to go to classes, because I was really looking forward to getting as much as I could out of these last two months through class discussions and social interactions,” she said. “I don’t like being confined, so that’s been pretty hard.”

Bernardi is Netflix binging, reading, and hopes to start taking walks to the park, “if that’s even allowed.”

Senior Donaldo Lleshi, an international student from Albania, said his case is a “delicate situation” because of the 30-day travel President Trump imposed between the United States and Europe.

“My parents were worried, then I was worried, and I didn’t know what was gonna happen,” Lleshi said. “I didn’t know if there was gonna be any more school if I did decide to go back. My parents were planning to come for graduation, and we don’t know if that’s gonna happen anymore.”

Lleshi is staying with friends in Ohio, and plans to “watch some movies, keep busy with schoolwork, take walks once in a while.”

In some ways, life has gone on as normal for senior Chrissy Burchette, who has gotten used to the unpredictable schedule of a nursing major.

“Honestly, I feel like it hasn’t really changed anything, because it’s just as fast-paced as it usually is, it’s just fast-paced in a different way,” Burchette said. “I’m enjoying it, because I just love making others feel better when they’re sick, so it’s not making me stressed or annoyed. It’s just normal for me.”

Nursing majors typically have clinicals two days per week for eight hours. This schedule has been adjusted due to the virus; Burchette has attended three 12-hour clinicals this week, and has two more next week before finishing this part of her major requirement.

A first-generation college graduate, Burchette is upset she might not get to walk the stage. “I wanted that moment of walking across that stage,” she said. “But at the same time, me walking across the stage doesn’t make that day; what makes that day is my family being there, and me knowing that, after four years in a really tough major, I did it. I’m still gonna make sure that the day I graduate is going to be extra special. I’ll wear my cap and gown out, all day, to a restaurant, I don’t care. I’ll make sure it’s awesome.”