Coronavirus at Princeton University: What We Know

In light of the coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China earlier this year, the return to Princeton for students and faculty traveling from China for the 2020 spring semester was certainly an unusual one. Here’s our recap of what happened, and what we know so far. 

WHO WAS INVOLVED?

In accordance with federal guidelines set in response to the outbreak, around 150 faculty members and students returning from China after Jan. 31 were required to self-isolate while the University conducted a comprehensive risk assessment. Since no-one had had close contact with any person confirmed to have 2019-novel coronavirus, all were deemed low-risk and not required to self-isolate beyond the approximately three-day long assessment period. However, around 50 members of the University community voluntarily continued to self-quarantine after the assessment was complete.The self-isolation window ended on Feb. 16, after which all community members resumed normal campus activities like attending and teaching classes.

WHAT DID SELF-ISOLATION LOOK LIKE?

During the required self-isolation period, isolating individuals who previously lived in shared housing either kept to their single rooms if they lived in suites, or assigned to separate rooms that included graduate and off-campus housing. These individuals had the option of living in their new, temporary housing arrangements until the self-isolation period was over.One fourth-year graduate student, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, remained in her private residence until the risk assessment was complete. She retrieved groceries at night from her porch, where her Amazon and Whole Foods orders were delivered. For others staying in University housing, Dining Services delivered meals—most frequently cold food including sandwiches, salads and fruits—to the alternate housing arrangements. For some students, however, these accommodations could be a source of stress rather than relief. On Feb. 4, a group of anonymous students—frustrated by what they deemed as “inappropriate management” by the University—wrote a letter to the editor in The Daily Princetonian, expressing discontent that the University had placed students in housing with shared bathrooms and kitchens “without considering the potential danger of cross infection.”“Some of us moved into the assigned housing and were constantly fearing cross infection,” they wrote. “Others voluntarily revealed their identities as self-isolating individuals to housemates in order to warn them of the potential health risks, despite severe emotional stresses.”On Feb. 2, a day after the students requested the University provide them with private rooms, the University informed the students that separate living units were unavailable, according to a third-year graduate student who had helped write the letter in The Daily Princetonian. As a result, many graduate students stayed in their originally assigned housing, despite some initial pushback from a few housemates. Meanwhile, undergraduate Sophie Li ‘21—who had visited family in Guangdong to celebrate the Chinese New Year over winter break—was one of an unspecified number of individuals who were offered rooms in Palmer House, located off-campus on 1 Bayard Lane. “Emotionally, it’s not fun to have your movement restricted, ever,” she said. While living in Palmer House, where she stayed from the evening of Feb. 2 to the following afternoon, she sometimes felt “helpless”: given the unfamiliarity of the situation for both students and faculty, “it was hard to figure out how I was going to do school.” Initially, Li had been assigned to a quad in Henry Hall, which she contested for similar reasons to the graduate students who penned the aforementioned letter to the editor. Hotchkiss claimed that, given none of the students returning to campus from China were experiencing any symptoms consistent with coronavirus, the University “utilized all immediately available housing to address the requirements of self-quarantine,” which, in some cases, included accommodations with shared common spaces. This was “a common and acceptable practice as long as those with symptoms are separated from those without,” he wrote in an email correspondence.

WHICH PRINCETON PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN AFFECTED?

Since January, the University has stopped approving travel requests to China by students, faculty and staff for University business or University-sponsored programs, and several China-based Princeton programs have been postponed, cancelled or restructured until further notice.The China cohort of the Novogratz Bridge Year Program, originally based in Kunming, China, relocated to Taiwan on Feb. 1. The program is set to be based out of Yilan City, Taiwan, until May 1st, when the program is scheduled to conclude, according to Hotchkiss. The Princeton University Peking Opera Immersion Program, initially scheduled to be held in Shanghai between Jun. 8 and 26, 2020, has been postponed until 2021. It is unclear whether Princeton in Beijing, a popular summer course that attracts several hundreds of applications every year, will proceed as scheduled for the summer. An official decision will be reached on Apr. 30, 2020.According to Hotchkiss, the university is “working on a one-on-one basis” with students who have plans to study abroad in East Asia “to help them evaluate their options.” Wendy Ho ‘21, who is currently studying abroad at Singapore National University, said that although she is currently able to remain in her program, she will “probably have to go back” to the United States if the situation “makes a turn for the worse.” Anecdotally, she has heard of students on her program who have voluntarily returned home to avoid the possibility of contracting the coronavirus. Rachel Mrkaich ‘21, who was in Italy for a study abroad program led by Syracuse University, left the country on Feb. 26. She and over 300 students in the Syracuse Abroad program were instructed to vacate Europe by Sunday, Mar. 1. “I’m feeling okay as of now,” wrote Mrkaich in an online correspondence. Three of her four classes are going to be converted into an online format, she said, and she has decided to give up the fourth, which will be meeting on the Syracuse home campus in Syracuse, New York. She is unsure, however, whether the University will approve her decision, as it would put her one course short of being a full-time student in a study abroad program. “I am hoping [the University] will agree to work with me in this extenuating circumstance,” said Mrkaich. “The worst part of the entire circumstance is not knowing what will happen, and having to trust that there are people on my side at Princeton.”

HOW DID PRINCETON RESPOND AS A COMMUNITY?

Across colleges and universities in the United States, Chinese students make up the majority of international students currently pursuing degrees in the country. Princeton University is no exception. Out of the 2,055 enrolled international students at Princeton University during the 2018-2019 academic year, 623—or 30% —held Chinese citizenship.In recent months, media attention has been focused on anti-Chinese sentiment and xenophobia across the world, as well as on college campuses, as a consequence of the coronavirus frenzy. At Princeton, Chinese students have responded with mixed feelings.“Everyone is in panic. Not all people know what is going on,” said the third-year graduate student. “Because of this lack of security, they try to stay away from those people who are at risk of the virus, even though the University said we are low-risk, and there is no need for isolation.”Though explaining her situation to housemates was a challenging experience, she said, “I think all people understood, and no one did bad things to me.” Other graduate students echoed this sentiment, noting the generosity and patience of faculty members in catching up on what they had missed when they were in self-isolation.While describing her self-isolation experience, Li emphasized that, while the experience at Princeton wasn’t particularly “pleasant,” it was important to keep in mind the experiences of family members back in China. “I’m hesitant to moan about [the situation], because of how much better it is to [be in these circumstances] than to think, will there be food at the grocery store when I go line up for two hours tomorrow?” As of Feb. 28, there were approximately 25 posts relating to the coronavirus outbreak on Tiger Confessions, the Facebook page where Princeton students anonymously submit ‘confessions’ for other students to read. On Feb. 2, one anonymous confessor published a post describing how, in light of their roommate having just returned from China, they had “been avoiding” their apartment “and crashing on people’s couches.” “I’m so upset, and it’s only going to get worse once people like my roommate start walking around campus and interacting with people without a care in the world like they aren’t potential causes of an outbreak,” the post continued, much to the consternation of other students, who described the confession as “dehumanizing” and “xenophobic” in the comments.  Although cases of anti-Asian discrimination were not as prominent at Princeton as at other universities or places, according to the sources interviewed for this piece, the University emphasized, in their Feb. 17 TigerAlert, the importance of remaining “supportive, respectful, and inclusive of the members of our community who are affected by this global issue.”“We deeply appreciate each and every one of our returned travelers for their patience and cooperation throughout this difficult period,” read the message. “During a time when they were stressed about their own situations and worried about family and friends in China, they were sensitive and mindful about the concerns of the entire campus community.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

Given the global nature of the coronavirus, the University is closely monitoring all developments.During the Q&A section of a Feb. 27 panel discussion on the 2019-novel coronavirus hosted by the Woodrow Wilson School, Irina Daskalaki, an Infectious Disease Physician at University Health Service, said that the University is “examining the possibility” of screening people coming to Princeton from other countries beyond China. This option was confirmed in the latest TigerAlert, dated Feb. 28, which states that federal restrictions for travelers returning from locations beyond China may be considered in the future.For now, the University has issued university-specific guidelines for countries that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the U.S. Department of State (USDOS) have deemed risky for travelers, with predictions that travel to countries with a high-level of risk would remain difficult until early 2021.According to Dr. George DiFerdinando, an audience member at the panel and the current chief of Princeton’s Board of Health, University representatives are working with actors within the Princeton local community—such as the Princeton school system, the emergency response system, and the police department—to discuss “the community-wide response” in light of the coronavirus. Their first meeting was held on Friday, Feb. 28. This is a continuing story, with developments set to unfold over the next several weeks. Stay tuned for updates.