Fairfield U Beach Students Banned Again; SHU Moves Classes Online

FAIRFIELD, CT — As coronavirus cases continue to spike, both universities in Fairfield are taking steps to reduce the spread of the virus.

Fairfield University is banning beach-area students from campus for the second time this semester, and Sacred Heart University is moving its classes online.

The ban at Fairfield University was announced Thursday in a message to the affected students, and mandates that off-campus students living in Fairfield’s beach area stay home, interact only with roommates and take classes entirely online. Similar measures were put in place a month ago amid a previous increase in cases at the school.

The university is testing all beach-area students for the virus and the results will impact the length of the ban. Students who have had the virus in the last 90 days and recovered are exempt from the stay-at-home order.

The school also announced Friday it was changing its coronavirus alert status from yellow to orange and implementing new protocols, which will remain in place for the next two weeks. Campus events will be virtual, gatherings of more than five people will be prohibited, guests will not be allowed in university housing units, dining facilities will be “grab and go” only, and the off-campus shuttle will be suspended.

“Failure to comply with all mandates issued by the University and public health authorities, ultimately may result in permanent separation (i.e. expulsion) from the University,” said Karen Donoghue, vice president for student life, in a message to students Friday.

As of Thursday, 116 community members at Fairfield University had the virus, according to data from the school. Only 21 of those cases involved on-campus students.

Another 336 community members had tested positive but were no longer ill.

At Sacred Heart University, 124 school community members had the virus as of Thursday, and 364 more had recovered, the university reported.

Sacred Heart changed it coronavirus alert status to orange Wednesday, before announcing Friday it would switch its status to red. As part of the most recent status change, most classes will move online for the duration of the semester, the majority of campus events will be suspended or canceled, and on-campus students will be barred from attending off-campus gatherings, according to a message Friday from the university.

“We are seeing here the same thing that is happening across the country — large gatherings and meetings without masks and social distancing are leading to community spread,” the message said.

On Wednesday, the school announced a two-week quarantine at the Seton and Bergoglio residence halls, both of which had high numbers of cases. Students in the affected dormitories may only leave their rooms for bathroom breaks and to pick up food.