On March 18th, 2020, the President of Loyola University Maryland, Rev. Brian F. Linnane, S.J., decided to extend online instruction through the close of the academic year. Based on what health officials advise, the president didn’t have any other decision.

This decision has had a lot of impact on the Loyola University Maryland community as a whole. For professors, they have to shift their whole curriculum and transition from in person classes to online classes via Zoom. This is a major shift because teachers have to change their teaching style to teach through a computer instead of having face to face instruction.

For students, the shift has caused an increased anxiety. To put into other words, Jenna Pizzi said, “It has really increased my anxiety because I feel so out of control of my situation. I am not able to be on campus to see my professors and classmates.” She has moved back home to her hometown in New Jersey and is taking her classes online from there.

On the other hand, students are staying in Baltimore because the outbreak is a lot less in Baltimore than in their hometowns. To explain, Melissa Triscari said, “I live in New York City so staying in Baltimore is much safer. Both of my roommates have moved back home so I am currently living down here alone. It isn’t the best situation, but I feel much safer being in Baltimore rather than home.”

For seniors, the Coronavirus has affected the rest of their last year at Loyola University Maryland. In the Presidents email, Linnane explained, “Based on the information we are receiving from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding crowds, we have no choice but to postpone Commencement.” This was an extreme upset to seniors because they aren’t able to celebrate their Commencement the way they expected.

For all students, they unable to return back to campus to pack up their room to take all of their belongings home. This is also an extreme upset for students because they only expected to come home for a month or do. They might not have packed all of their necessary belongings for the time being until they are able to return.

Overall, the COVID-19 outbreak has really caused a necessary shift to the Loyola University Maryland community. We hope that the community can come together at a hard time like this.