BIG RAPIDS, Mich. — For Bryan Marquardt, it’s a strange time at Ferris State University.
The director of housing and residence life is used to seeing campus full of students right now. But after Governor Whitmer ordered all schools closed statewide to stop the spread of COVID 19, the normally busy dorms are empty.
Almost empty, that is.
“Most students left campus but some couldn’t leave for whatever reason,” says Marquardt.
About 150 students are still here for various reasons, like international students unable to travel safely home or families that live on campus year round.
The university allowed these students to stay on a case-by-case basis, and keeps them safe through social distancing.
"Say they were staying in a dorm on campus and expressed the need to stay and were approved," explains Marquardt. "Then we moved them into other areas and there is only one student per room.”
The school provides ready to eat meals three days a week, but Marquardt says if students have to stay into the summer, dining will not continue.
Students who need to stay over the summer are again being decided upon a case-by-case basis.
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