According to the email, 

sent 
by 
the 
University 

Housing Team, concerns 

about the spread of the 

novel coronavirus made it 

crucial for students to leave 

campus.

“New developments in 

the COVID-19 pandemic 

make it clear that now is 

the time to return home,” 

the email reads. “ ... While 

University 
Housing 
will 

ensure 
that 
we 
have 

sufficient housing available 

for 
students 
who 
truly 

have no other alternatives, 

we cannot promise that 

you will be able to remain 

in your current housing 

assignment.”

The request to stay must 

be filled out by Wednesday, 

March 18 at 8 a.m. A failure 

to respond will result in the 

University 
assuming 
the 

student has moved out and 

discontinuing access to the 

building. 

The email also noted that 

Northwood I, II, III, IV and 

V, Lawyers club and Munger 

Graduate Residences are 

exceptions 
to 
the 
rule 

students must leave unless 

they have no other option. 

This comes after Simone 

Himbeault Taylor, interim 

vice president for student 

life, sent a campus-wide 

email Monday urging all 

students to return home. 

All libraries and gyms on 

campus have been closed, 

while dining hall usage has 

been reduced to take-out 

only.

Additionally, 
Gov. 

Gretchen 
Whitmer 
put 

into effect an executive 

order on Monday closing 

performance 
venues, 

movie theaters, libraries, 

museums 
and 
bars, 
in 

addition 
to 
banning 

on-premise consumption at 

restaurants in the state. 

Several cases of COVID-

19 have been identified in 

the University community, 

Taylor confirmed in her 

email to students.

“There 
are 
several 

confirmed 
cases 
within 

our 
community, 
dozens 

of others remain under 

evaluation, 
and 
many 

others have been placed in 

quarantine as a result of 

exposure,” Taylor wrote. 

“And these numbers are 

growing daily.”

LSA 
sophomore 
Isaac 

Bigsby lives in Couzens 

Hall. He was originally 

planning on moving out 

this weekend but now has 

to expedite his move-out 

process in light of this 

email. 

“I think that was the 

real turning point in my 

decision to move out — 

when they started to get 

more serious about what’s 

going on,” Bigsby said. “And 

based on my understanding, 

looking at it, I think what 

they’re gonna do is relocate 

people and so it’d be kind of 

crazy because the one thing 

I was worried about is if I 

leave Friday, am I about to 

have to move all my stuff 

somewhere else and then 

move out again for sure, but 

I’m not too worried about 

it now since I’m leaving 

tomorrow.”

Bigsby 
said 
while 

he is able to move out 

sooner than he initially 

intended, 
not 
everyone 

has that ability. He noted 

international 
students 

may 
face 
heightened 

challenges. 

“There’s 
one 
of 
my 

hallmates who is leaving 

on Friday and is concerned. 

Are they gonna shut off 

access on Wednesday and if 

so, that’ll be a problem if he 

isn’t leaving until Friday,” 

Bigsby said. “I think there’s 

several other people that 

also don’t really have a place 

to stay. I kind of think about 

international 
students, 

where are they going to put 

their stuff if they’re forced 

to leave?”

Bigsby said he appreciates 

the University’s response 

and said the school has 

made sure everyone in the 

residence hall feels secure, 

but the previous uncertainty 

around whether students 

were supposed to stay or 

move out made it difficult 

for him to figure out what 

to do. 

2A — Wednesday, March 18, 2020
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Despite 
a 
spate 
of 

cancellations 
across 

campus amid an outbreak of 

coronavirus, the Graduate 

Employees’ 
Organization 

continued 
their 
campaign 

for a new contract with the 

University of Michigan. On 

Tuesday afternoon, more than 

80 people gathered virtually 

for a digital sit-in after the 

graduate student union and 

the University failed to reach a 

tentative agreement by March 

1. 

The 
union’s 
platform 

includes 
proposals 
related 

to sexual misconduct policy, 

climate 
change, 
housing 

and 
food 
security 
and 

disability and mental health 

accommodations.

When GEO began contract 

negotiations 
with 
the 

University’s 
administration 

last November, they called for 

expanded mental health and 

transgender health coverage 

and increasing pay equity. 

In February, GEO held a 

“grade-in” in Mason Hall to 

continue raising awareness 

about issues facing graduate 

student workers, including 

disability and mental health 

accommodations and housing 

equity, among others.

In a February interview 

with The Daily, University 

President Mark Schlissel said 

the University recognizes the 

important contributions of 

graduate student employees 

on campus and expressed his 

support for their work at the 

University.

“The graduate students are 

the lifeblood of the University, 

and we’re the biggest public 

research university in the 

country, if not the world,” 

Schlissel said. “Most of that 

research is done by our 

graduate students. They’re 

our partners in scholarship, 

they’re our successors very 

often in the academy; they’ll 

be tomorrow’s professors and 

leaders in society. So, we’re 

invested in their success.”

In a written statement to 

The Daily when bargaining 

began in November, Sascha 

Matish, associate vice provost 

for academic affairs and senior 

director of academic human 

resources, said the University 

is committed to working with 

the GEO to develop a contract 

both parties can agree upon.

DORMS
From Page 1

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DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily

Students continue to move out of dorms in compliance with the many statements issued by the University, asking all dorm residents to return to their 
permanent residence.
GEO hosts virtual sit-in amid 
coronavirus cancellations

Graduate student union continues bargaining campaign with the 
University after failing to meet March 1 deadline for agreement

BRAYDEN HIRSCH

Daily Staff Reporter

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