Due to "unforeseen circumstances", students at UNC-Chapel Hill have been "strongly encouraged" to move out of their residence halls effective immediately amidst growing concerns over the spread of Covid-19. All classes that were intended to be in-person have been moved to remote/ online instruction.

UNC's decision to cancel in-person classes yesterday, after incentivizing students not to defer matriculation by offering a "semi-normal" semester, is a sign of mismanagement at best and profit-seeking at worst. The University willingly allowed students to move back into residence halls despite significant concern raised by the local Orange County Health Department and Gillings School of Public Health. UNC lured students back into a false sense of security. It's no coincidence that this decision became public on the EXACT date that Fall 2020 Tuition was due.

This decision places undue emotional and financial burden on students who not only have to endure the emotional whiplash of the decision but must also pay FULL tuition and fees for resources and facilities they will never be able to use and an education that is obviously under-realized. Students and families should receive compensation for the increased and unnecessary pressure exerted on them. We demand a reduction in fees as we will not have access to the resources that we pay for!

The UNC Board of Governors has failed its community and its students. They knowingly placed many students into an impossible situation, forcing them to pack up and leave merely a week after moving in. The additional stress and turmoil applied to students and their families must not go unnoticed or uncorrected.