Syracuse University Pushes Back the Start of Spring Semester to February 8th

Josh Meyers, SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse University will begin classes for the Spring semester on February 8th and conclude on May 21st, according to an email from SU Chancellor Kent Syverud. Move-in for campus residence halls will take place the week of February 1st. This comes after the rapid spread of COVID-19 throughout Central New York in the past month.

This pushback in classes by two weeks was made by the SU administration alongside the Onondaga County Health Department.

“This provides some distance between the expected post-holiday surge of cases and our return to campus,” Syverud said in the email to all students. “It increases the possibility that some of our campus’ frontline workers will be vaccinated prior to the start of the semester.”

This decision was made in hopes that a vaccine will be available by February, per Syverud. “The delayed start gets us closer to the time when vaccines will be more widely available across the country,” he said.

Students will hear more from the university in the coming days about testing and quarantine requirements before moving in, according to the university.