CREATIVE DESTRUCTION:

HANOVER -- In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dartmouth College is telling its 4,400 undergraduates not to return to campus housing until at least May 1 and to plan for the possibility that they may not return to campus at all during the spring term. Students instead are expected to take courses remotely.

The directive came as the college's winter term is ending and students are leaving for a two-week spring break. Many colleges and universities around the country announced they are clearing out campuses to slow the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease first identified late last year in Wuhan, China.

Faculty and staff, including union employees, "will be paid as usual," according to the email. Additionally, graduate students will continue to receive stipends and are not required to leave campus, and there will be some exceptions for undergraduate students to remain on campus for "medical, visa status, and other reasons."

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