In an attempt to limit the potential spread of COVID-19, St. Bonaventure University is suspending most university-sponsored student travel and all organized campus events, including extracurricular student activities and events the university hosts, until at least March 31.

Dr. Dennis DePerro, university president, announced the decision in a notice to the campus community late Wednesday afternoon.

“While we have no reported cases on campus or in the surrounding community, we’re exercising an abundance of caution in limiting crowd gathering,” DePerro said. “We’re fortunate that we have relatively small class sizes so we are continuing with in-class instruction for the time being.

“The guidance we are getting from the county Health Department tells us that’s the right decision at this time,” he said. “But as we all know by now, this is a rapidly evolving situation.”

The university has established a COVID-19 Planning & Response Team and is developing contingency academic plans if it’s no longer able to offer in-class instruction.

Only students who have to travel for assignments directly related to instruction or course requirements are allowed to make those trips. Travel involving the university's Div. I athletic teams will be determined with guidance from the Atlantic 10 and NCAA.

All organized extracurricular and co-curricular campus activities and events, as well as campus events the university hosts, including but not limited to dinners, lectures, conferences and competitions, are suspended effective at 5 p.m. Friday, March 13.

The campus events include intramurals, club sports, Campus Activity Board events, open student club events and Quick Center events.

These restrictions will remain in place until March 31, at which time university administrators, in consultation with the County Health Department, will re-examine the situation to decide if the suspension needs to be extended.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. In 2019, St. Bonaventure was named the #1 regional university value in New York and #2 in the North by U.S. News and World Report.