~2,000 studentsNYU Shanghai Public Safety Notifications
Confirmed Timeline
Alert Sequence
5 messages in sequence
Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.
INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstruction·673 chars
Dear Students, Due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Shanghai and ordinances issued by the municipal government, NYU Shanghai students and faculty are no longer able to leave the city for the foreseeable future. Students currently residing in the Jinqiao Residence Hall will be required to remain in the residence hall. Students residing off-campus who wish to relocate to the residence hall may do so today only. Students who choose to depart the city now will not be able to return to campus for the foreseeable future. Classes will be conducted online. Please respond to your RA by 6:00 PM today to confirm your housing decision. — David Pe, Dean of Students
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
March 13, 2022 is the WSN-confirmed date of the first communication; the residence-hall vs. depart-the-city binary choice is the operative content confirmed in the article
Shanghai is in China Standard Time (UTC+8), which does not observe daylight saving
David Pe is named in the WSN article as the Dean of Students who signed the email
UPDATEEmail+14d
Approximate reconstruction·614 chars
NYU Shanghai Public Safety Notice: Effective today, March 28, 2022, the Shanghai Municipal Government has placed Pudong district — including the NYU Shanghai campus and the Jinqiao Residence Hall — under a phased lockdown to control the spread of the Omicron BA.2 variant. All residents are forbidden from leaving their apartments or residence-hall floors. Students in Jinqiao will continue to receive three meals per day, delivered to residence-hall floors. Daily PCR testing will be required. All classes will continue online. The campus remains closed. We will provide regular updates as the situation develops.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
The phased Pudong lockdown began March 28 and was followed by a Puxi lockdown April 1, eventually covering all 25 million Shanghai residents
The 600-student dorm population figure is confirmed in multiple WSN reports
Daily PCR testing of all dorm residents was required by Shanghai municipal order, not by NYU
Dear NYU Shanghai Community, The Shanghai citywide lockdown continues, and at this point we cannot predict when restrictions will be lifted. Accordingly, NYU Shanghai will conduct all instruction remotely for the remainder of the Spring 2022 semester. Students who remain in Jinqiao Residence Hall will continue to receive meal delivery, daily testing, and ongoing care from the NYU Shanghai team. For students who have already departed Shanghai, faculty will accommodate time-zone differences and provide asynchronous options where possible. Commencement plans will be communicated separately. Please continue to take care of one another. — Jeffrey S. Lehman, Vice Chancellor
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
The April 3 decision to extend remote instruction through the end of the semester is the key inflection point — before this email, students believed the lockdown might be lifted in days
Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman, a former Cornell University President, signed all major spring 2022 community communications at NYU Shanghai
The decision came before any U.S. consular evacuation guidance was issued — a significant operational decision for a U.S.-anchored institution
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstruction·480 chars
Dear NYU Shanghai Students, I have moved into Jinqiao Residence Hall to be with you during this extraordinary period. I will follow the same COVID-19 protocols as you do, including daily testing and floor-only movement. I will help serve meals on the floors. Our chancellor's office will continue to function remotely from the residence hall. I am proud of the patience, resilience, and care you have shown one another. We will get through this together. — Tong Shijun, Chancellor
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
Chancellor Tong Shijun's decision to live in Jinqiao was widely cited as the single most distinctive leadership act of any U.S. university leader during a COVID lockdown
Tong served meals on residence-hall floors and was bound by the same floor-only movement restrictions as students — confirmed in multiple secondary sources
NYU Shanghai Reopening Update: Beginning today, April 27, 2022, NYU Shanghai will begin phased reopening of campus access for students who require essential on-campus resources. This is consistent with Shanghai Municipal Government guidance permitting limited movement within designated 'precautionary' areas. Reopening will be gradual; most students will continue remote learning for the remainder of the spring semester. Students wishing to access campus must register in advance with the Dean of Students Office. Daily PCR testing remains required. Commencement will be held virtually on May 26, 2022.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
April 27 was the first date that NYU Shanghai students could request access to campus since the March 28 lockdown began — exactly 30 days
The 'precautionary' designation refers to the three-tier system Shanghai used (lockdown / controlled / precautionary) for neighborhoods during the phased reopening
Spring 2022 commencement on May 26 was held entirely virtually for the second straight year
Context
Background
New York University Shanghai is the second of three full degree-granting campuses in NYU's global network and was the first Sino-U.S. cooperative-venture university approved by China's Ministry of Education. Its Pudong campus was built in partnership with East China Normal University. The Spring 2022 Shanghai COVID-19 lockdown — driven by the Omicron BA.2 variant — was the harshest urban quarantine of any major world city since the original 2020 Wuhan lockdown, and NYU Shanghai's students, faculty, and staff were entirely subject to Shanghai municipal authority for its duration. The case is unique among NYU's three degree campuses because the operational authority sat not with NYU New York's Office of Global Services but with the Shanghai municipal government — the same dynamic that would later play out at NYU Abu Dhabi during the February 2026 Iranian missile strikes. Chancellor Tong Shijun's April 14 decision to move into Jinqiao Residence Hall — and Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman's April 3 decision to extend remote instruction through the end of the semester before any U.S. consular evacuation guidance was issued — together represent two of the most distinctive operational choices made by U.S. university leaders during a public-health emergency abroad. The case is included here as an 'advisory' rather than 'emergency-notification' under Clery because it was not a single-event, single-day immediate threat — but the cumulative effect on student safety, mental health, and academic continuity was easily comparable to any short-duration emergency notification in the archive.
Analysis
Key Findings
01Approximately 600 NYU Shanghai students remained in the Jinqiao Residence Hall under daily PCR testing and floor-only movement for the duration of the March 28–April 27 strict lockdown — likely the longest sustained dorm quarantine of any U.S.-affiliated student population in 2022
02Chancellor Tong Shijun moved into the residence hall on April 14, 2022, and followed identical COVID protocols as students — an unprecedented act of in-residence leadership at any U.S. university campus
03VC Jeffrey Lehman's April 3 decision to extend remote instruction through the end of the spring semester was made before any U.S. consular evacuation guidance was issued — a notable assertion of campus operational autonomy
Outcome
No NYU Shanghai community deaths reported. Approximately 600 students remained in the Jinqiao dorm under quarantine for the duration of the lockdown. Spring 2022 commencement was held virtually on May 26, 2022. The campus began reopening to students on April 27 with phased access and fully reopened in early June 2022.