Due to the large amount of international students at RISD and Brown (neighbour college) and the travel that takes place over Spring Break to high risk areas and the state of Rhode Island declaring state of emergency, Rhode Island School of Design should take more precautionary measures to prevent a major outbreak on campus and switch to a temporary online based education.

RISD has been working to keep the campus and it’s students and faculty as safe as possible but they should realise that tracking this new virus can be hard, considering that we are on flu season. It is imperative that RISD gives students and faculty the freedom to take precautions on their own about their safety with guidance from RISD and healthcare officials. Many family members of the RISD students are highly at risk for complications due to the virus. 

As schools around and only an hour away from RISD have already closed, and many other colleges move to online classes, RISD should follow the same path before risking students’ health.

As the virus is currently following a logistic curve with an unclear inflection point, the spread and impact of the virus is unknown. The best way to act is having a greater caution than RISD has been taking for weeks now.

As students from RISD, we feel obligated to have the voice of the community heard in this unfamiliar situation.