Taken from Wesleying (written by Saadia Naeem ‘20, and Iman Sigman ‘20):

We do not deny that the coronavirus outbreak is a serious public health issue, and we hope that all of those who are affected are receiving proper treatment and care. However, we cannot allow the University to make such a serious decision as suspending classes for the semester without student consultation and without our concerns taken into account. Below, we have listed a series of concerns that we have, and ask that they be addressed as we move forward.

Student concerns regarding a potential shut down:

First and foremost, we note that there has been no student input thus far, at least as far as the wider student population knows. This does not bode well for making a decision with students’ best interests in mind.
Making decisions solely based on the actions of peer institutions (such as Amherst, Middlebury, Harvard, etc) is irresponsible; many of those institutions have not indicated that they are making their decision based on consultations with health officials or governing bodies such as the CDC. There is no reason to believe that these decisions are not being made in panic, which is irresponsible and uninformed.
The CDC has not suggested that schools should be shut down.They are saying to plan for people to make the decision to not come back (absenteeism), but not requiring or suggesting that schools shut down. 
They are saying to disseminate information on the virus and how students, faculty, and staff work to prevent the spread. 
State universities in states that have so far declared states of emergency have not reacted by cancelling schoolUniversities far larger than Wesleyan who actually would have no way of completely controlling the spread of the disease have not taken measures beyond transitioning to online classes. 
There is no reason to believe that students would not be safer quarantined in a space with other young people that thus far have not seen any cases of the virus. 
As a population, we are less at risk than other demographics (older populations, etc), and Wesleyan requiring students to leave would in many cases mean students must go to more high risk spaces
Requiring students to live on campus and then revoking it is an unfair violation of our housing contractsIf Students will be forced to leave campus, the university should have to cover expenses

Housing
Flights
Food
Compensation for the lower market value of online schooling

It should be considered that not all students have a safe place to return to, and depend on their agreement with Wesleyan that they can stay on campus. Wesleyan requires students to live on campus; requiring students to leave can and should be understood as eviction. It is not realistic to expect that all students can find safe, adequate, affordable housing in a short time frame.
If the University suspends the semester and students are able to petition to remain on campus (as Amherst did), how will the University judge the criteria by which students are allowed to stay?What if students’ parents live near-by but they don’t have space or the resources to house their kids during the semester?
What if students cannot stay with their families due to personal issues?
The University is thus far not a high risk area; arguably, many students on this campus are from high risk areas (NY, SF, Washington, Abroad). How can the University justify making students leave knowing that they will be sending students to higher risk areas? Where will international students go?Clearly, a decision to prevent students from returning to campus would be an attempt to save its own resources and protect its own image, and not out of the concern for the wellbeing of its student, faculty, and staff population.
Signed,
Saadia Naeem ’20
Iman Sigman ’20
Rebecca Greenberg ’20
Elliot Witdorchic ’20

LINK TO ARTICLE: http://wesleying.org/2020/03/10/in-response-to-potential-university-shutdown-over-covid-19/