UVa cancels Final Exercises, classes to stay online for rest of semester

The (Charlottesville) Daily Progress 54 min ago

The University of Virginia on Tuesday announced that it will cancel Final Exercises in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Classes will move online for the rest of the semester, and all events on Grounds, regardless of size, are canceled through May 15, UVa President Jim Ryan announced in a Tuesday evening letter to the university community.

Ryan said the decisions were made based on evidence that the novel coronavirus will not have abated by late April. The university had initially hoped to put a brief pause on in-person teaching and operations.

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The university will continue to pay full-time and part-time employees through the shut down, the letter said. Employees who can work from home will be told to do so, the letter said, and those whose jobs are in-person must still show up for work. The rest may be asked to pick up other duties, the letter said, but they will be paid either way.

The two-day Final Exercises ceremony, a staple early-summer event that draws thousands, was scheduled for May 16 and 17. UVa staff are working on an alternative to the Lawn celebration, the letter said.

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