Students at San Francisco State University are grappling with conflicting directions from campus administrators about student housing during the coronavirus outbreak.
Students who live in dormitories received an email Tuesday night instructing them to leave campus housing due to the coronavirus outbreak. Wednesday morning, the school followed up with an email saying students would not be forced to leave their dorms, but left the decision up to students and asked anyone who chooses to stay in campus housing to notify the school by March 12.
“In support of our community’s health and wellness, University Housing is strongly urging all residents to begin planning their departure from on-campus housing during the time frame outlined,” read the March 10 email from the school’s Department of University Housing.
Receiving this news left students scrambling to figure out a plan. They must notify the school of their plans by March 12 and, if they’re leaving, do so by March 13.
“It was 9 and I was getting this email. This is not great,” SF State student Lore Dominguez said about receiving the after-hours email. “I called housing right away, and the offices were closed. It’s not a great situation to be in, especially late at night. How am I going to plan this out? My parents cannot just drop everything and drive up here. I can’t just book a flight right away when I got responsibilities and my job here.”
For her to find out the next morning the school wasn’t actually demanding that students leave dorms left her furious, Dominguez said. “I’m relieved but still kind of upset at how they worded it. I’m just upset how they had us worried last night and then this morning they finally calmed us down,” she said.
Students took to Twitter to share similar sentiments under the hashtag #SFSU and #sfsuhousing.
In an email statement on May 11, Executive Director of Housing Services Jeny Patino and Director of Residential Life David Rourke apologized to students for causing any unnecessary stress. This email made it clear that student housing remains open and building managers are only collecting keys from students who elect to temporarily depart.
Other Bay Area colleges are taking similar steps.
At both the University of San Francisco and The Academy of Art University courses have been moved to online platforms and student campus housing remains open.
At USF students who choose to stay in the resident halls will be asked to register with the school. A request for further details on the registration requirement was not returned by press time.
Access to all USF campus buildings will be restricted to those holding university-issued ID cards.
A segment from our radio show, “Civic.” Listen daily at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on 102.5 FM in San Francisco.