As of Monday, March 16 at 11:57am, president Conrado "Bobby" Gempesaw Ph.D. declared that the remainder of the spring 2020 semester at St. Johns University-Queens will be conducted via online instruction. This was a difficult decision and we ultimately appreciate this decision made by St. Johns University Administration's dedication to keep us safe during this COVID-19 pandemic.

While we are appreciate the frequent updates from St. John's University, these emails fail to mention what the school plans to do in order to lessen the unforeseen financial burden on students. We would like to formally request that St.Johns University to partially reimburse students for tuition and other associated fees for the Spring 2020 semester. 

Although we recognize the value and accessibility of distance learning methods and the role they play in our progressive institution, there are many classes at St. Johns University that are impossible to transition into the online space. Many students rely on campus facilities and resources such as printing labs, design studios, science labs in order to complete they're coursework. For these students and others who did not originally enroll in online classes, they are arguably now not recieving the same quality of education.

Lastly, due to the transition to distance learning and the closure of all campus facilities it will now cost less to run the university for the remainder of the semester. This means that tuition and all activity fees, laboratory fees initially paid are no longer accurate. For these reasons we kindly request St. Johns University administration to partially reimburse students for tuition and other associated fees for the spring 2020 semester.