After living on campus for the fall 2020 semester, some students have chosen to move back to their permanent homes for the spring semester to attend school virtually.
Lukas Leftwich, executive director of Residential Programs and Services, said about 700 students who lived in RPS housing in the fall have not returned for the spring semester. This number could change slightly in the next few weeks because some students may be late to return, he said.
Leftwich said the number of students who haven’t moved back is a little lower than what RPS has seen in the past. He said this is most likely because there has been a smaller number of students on campus this year than due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Leftwich said students not coming back to campus after winter break is normal, but this year the reasons for it are different.
Leftwich said there are a number of reasons why students might not be returning this semester.
“We have had students tell us they are not returning because parents have lost their jobs, their classes are all online, fear of COVID resurgence, they are able to study abroad,” Leftwich said.
RPS has also seen a larger amount of students moving to campus for the first time in the spring semester. Leftwich said this includes first-year students who took classes virtually last semester, new students and transfer students.
If a student chose to move back home after living on campus in the fall, they had to go through One.IU to cancel their RPS housing contract. RPS is contacting students who have not moved back yet but have not canceled their housing contract, Leftwich said.
IU spokesperson Chuck Carney said IU tried to be lenient with housing contracts over the past year so students could make the housing choices best for them.
“Given the circumstances of the year, we've tried to be fairly understanding with people and their housing options,” Carney said. “Much more so than we might in a regular year.”
Freshman Evelyn Eggers lived in McNutt Quad in the fall but said she decided to move home to attend classes virtually for the spring semester.
Eggers said mental health was the biggest factor she considered when making her decision. She said she thought being around her family and people she already knows would be in her best interest.
“The pandemic created a lot of isolation and not being able to meet people in a safe environment,” Eggers said “I felt like it was the best for me to come home and be around a community that I knew was safe.”
