Local college campuses are seeing an uptick in COVID-19 clusters, forcing university leaders to take action to stop the virus from spreading throughout campus.

What You Need To Know

  • RIT canceled spring break 2021 to minimize off-campus travel and spread of COVID-19

  • Nazareth College now has 27 new cases and over 60 people in quarantine

  • Keuka College is now going virtual for two weeks because of a COVID-19 cluster

​Last Monday, RIT announced the university will be canceling its 2021 spring break, saying the decision was made to limit off-campus travel. A decision that many students like Nicole Tumia and Fayez Mehdad, as well as faculty and their families, are not happy about.

"I was pretty upset about it honestly,” said Tumia. "We lose time to go see our families for those who don't live around here. We're losing our time to take a break. This is a break, not just for vacation, not just for fun. It's a mental health break for a lot of students."

"I really do hope RIT extends the summer break longer," said Mehdad. "That way students get to cope with their burnt-out feelings and also structure the students' needs."

An RIT spokesperson told Spectrum News the university is looking into extra days off in the spring semester to allow students to "recharge." Tumia said this fall semester has proven to her how important some days off are since there is not a fall break either.

"They took away pretty much all days off for us, so we don't really have any time to catch up on work," said Tumia. "It's definitely stressful because I feel like I need that break. As somebody who also works while going to school, that one day off helps out so much."

RIT is urging students and staff to not travel outside of the Finger Lakes region after going from a green COVID-19 alert level to yellow on Friday due to an uptick in positive cases.

RIT is not the only one. At Nazareth College, 21 positive cases were identified Friday. Six more have tested positive over the weekend for a total of 27 new cases. Most of them related to a single off-campus social event according to the school. School officials said 60 people who were in contact with the positive cases are now in quarantine as of Friday. An investigation into the event is underway, and the school says, if needed, disciplinary action will be taken.

Keuka College went virtual starting Monday for two weeks after an outbreak of cases. Twelve students tested positive for COVID-19 Friday, another five on Saturday, and 11 on Sunday. The total active cases there now are three.

The schools said they are working with public health officials to trace these cases.