College Shifting to Fully-Remote Fall Semester

Holy Cross will shift to fully remote classes with a very limited number of students on campus this fall, President Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J. announced to the campus community on Monday.

Previously, the College’s plan called for students to be back on campus with a hybrid model of in-person and virtual classes. Fr. Boroughs said a number of factors — including a rise in cases across the country and in Massachusetts; concerns over the speed of testing; and outbreaks in schools and organizations that have reopened in person — led to the shift.

“While we all hoped that we would be able to welcome our community back to campus this fall, recent developments have made it clear that a shift to remote learning is now the only course that allows us to meet our varied responsibilities to our students, faculty, staff and local Worcester community,” Fr. Boroughs said Monday in an email to the community.

A small number of students, including students who require access to campus in order to succeed academically, students whose academic work requires access to campus facilities in order to meet research and graduation requirements, some international students, and certain winter sports athletes will be able to apply to live on campus.

Increasingly restrictive guidelines from state and local authorities, spurred by increasing COVID cases in Massachusetts, led College leaders to determine a fully-remote semester was the only available path forward.

Faculty members, staff and administrators have been working on a variety of plans for the fall, and so are prepared for the shift to fully-remote classes, Fr. Boroughs said.

Fr. Boroughs said the College will continue to monitor the virus and public health guidelines, and will invite the community to return to campus when it is safer to do so.

The College has posted an updated FAQ page for the fall semester, and will continue to update as new information becomes available. Several town hall webinars are also planned for later in the week to address additional questions. Additional questions may be sent to coronavirus@holycross.edu.