Voorhees College students will complete the fall semester virtually after the Thanksgiving holiday break, which will begin Nov. 24. The last day of on-campus housing and in-person instruction is Nov. 23. The Thanksgiving holiday break is Nov. 24-26, at which time the campus will be closed.
Students will not return to campus physically Nov. 29. Instead, they will resume with virtual instruction and final exams beginning Nov. 29-Dec. 9. Faculty and staff will return to campus Nov. 29.
The last workday of the year for faculty will be Dec. 15 and Dec. 16 for staff. Voorhees College will be closed during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday break, Dec. 20-Jan. 3.
After the New Year, the college will reopen for faculty and staff on Jan. 4, student ambassadors will return to campus on this day as well. New students will arrive Jan. 5 and all returning students will begin arriving to campus Jan. 6. Classes will begin Jan. 10.
Damara Hightower Mitchell, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said the decision to conduct classes virtually was made out of consideration for the students’ health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am proud of how effectively the Voorhees College community has worked together to keep us all as safe and as healthy as possible. To continue those efforts, we have decided to deliver all instruction for the remainder of the semester virtually. This will ensure minimal disruption to academics while also considering the health and wellness of our students as they navigate travel to their respective homes and communities. We are well prepared to eagerly welcome our Tigers back to campus in the New Year,” Hightower Mitchell said.
Adrian West, dean of students, expects the virtual learning format to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19 significantly.
“We have had a successful semester in terms of the very low positivity rate of COVID-19 among our students, faculty and staff. We hope that our students will remain safe and healthy while completing the rest of the semester virtually and look forward to their return beginning Jan. 6th. We will end this semester with COVID-19 testing and all of our stakeholders (faculty, staff and students) will be tested upon returning to campus in January 2022,” West said.
