North Carolina State University announced Thursday—ten days after their semester began—that undergraduate classes will move online starting Monday, Aug. 24.
Chancellor Randy Woodson wrote in a message to the N.C. State community that the university identified three COVID-19 clusters in off-campus and Greek Village houses in the last two days, which can be traced to “parties and behavior outside of our community standards and the governor’s mandates.”
He added that NC State has seen a “rapidly increasing trend” in coronavirus infections in the past week. As of Thursday, the university has more than 500 students in quarantine and isolation who have tested positive or been in contact with someone positive for the virus.
Woodson wrote that students are welcome to continue living in residence halls on campus, but those who choose to return home will be able to cancel housing contracts with no penalty and will be reimbursed a prorated amount for housing and dining.
The decision comes three days after the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced classes would move online. Both universities began classes Aug. 10.
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Mona Tong is a Trinity senior and director of diversity, equity and inclusion analytics for The Chronicle's 117th volume. She was previously news editor for Volume 116.