COVID-19 News

Northwestern will cancel all prospective student programming from March 14 through April 18, as well as Wildcat Days for the month of April out of precautions related to the outbreak of COVID-19, also known as the novel coronavirus, according to a Tuesday email sent to student tour guides.

In the email obtained by The Daily, tour guide program director Hillary Lundberg wrote that the cancelation includes information sessions, campus tours and Purple Previews, the school’s program for high school students to shadow undergraduates for a day. Northwestern regular decision admitted student program Wildcat Days, scheduled to take place April 13 and April 20, will also be canceled.

“Our decision to cancel our programming is not indicative of any campus-wide plans,” Lundberg wrote in the email.

Lundberg also wrote that the University is working on creating opportunities for tour guides and student staff to still be able to work for their office during this time. Virtual opportunities for prospective students to interact with NU’s campus community are also being explored, she said.

University spokesman Bob Rowley confirmed the information in the email Wednesday, adding that because the University is still open to visitors, the Segal Visitors Center will remain open.

“This is part of the University’s continuing response to the COVID-19 outbreak and our approach is to use an abundance of caution in how we proceed,” Rowley wrote in the email. “The intention is to keep our community and others as safe as we possibly can.”

The step is one of many Northwestern has taken to abide by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations to limit the number of large-group events in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak. The virus was re-classified as a “global pandemic” Wednesday by the World Health Organization.

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