Students living in Cabrini Hall will be forced to relocate to Xavier Hall next week so that the University can convert the building to serve as additional quarantine space, according to an email from the Health Intervention and Communication Team (HICT) sent out on Monday.
The move comes four days after Seton Hall announced it would expand its surveillance testing to include all three of its campuses and non-resident students who have opted into the University’s HyFlex course delivery model.
According to the announcement, the anticipated increase in positive cases resulting from increased testing was behind the plan to move students from Cabrini Hall to Xavier Hall. So far, the University has recorded 46 cases of coronavirus in individuals associated with the South Orange since the start of January.
“Although several public health statistics have improved, the continued spread of the virus, uncertainty regarding new variants, and the pace of the state’s vaccination rollout led us to make this decision and to ensure we are prepared for every possibility,” the email read.
Its currently unclear how many students the announcement will affect.
Move out for students living in Cabrini will begin on Feb. 14 at 3:00 p.m. and continue until Feb. 17. Students will be given a designated time to start moving out after filling out a form to indicate a preferred relocation date and living preference.
Affected students will receive their new housing assignment via email by Feb. 13.
Cabrini Hall, one of the three residence halls that make up the University’s Complex dorms, will supplement the existing 104 beds in Ora Manor, which has served as the primary quarantine space for students Seton Hall reopened in August.
Last semester, the University similarly converted an empty Serra Hall -- another Complex dorm -- to serve as a quarantine facility following a surge of coronavirus cases on the South Orange campus in November.
Though the University does not publicly list the number of available beds in Cabrini Hall, it says that the Complex dorms collectively can accommodate about 550 students.
Nicholas Kerr can be reached at nicholas.kerr@student.shu.edu. Find him on Twitter @nickdotkerr.
This is a breaking news story. Check back later for more updates.
