Campus Alert Archive
Syracuse

"A Decision Has Been Made, Literally a Few Minutes Ago, to Suspend the Program"

NYcovid 19emergency notificationhigh confidence

On February 25, 2020, as COVID-19 spread through northern Italy, Syracuse University suspended its Florence study-abroad program and called all 342 students home early for their safety. Program director Sasha Perugini told a hastily called meeting, "A decision has been made, literally (a) few minutes ago, to suspend the program," with the last day of classes effectively that day.

Alerts
2
Response
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Killed
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Injured
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Institution
Syracuse University
Private R1 · NY
Syracuse Abroad
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

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 ALERTUnknown
Verified verbatimThe Daily Orange, quoting Florence program director Sasha Perugini124 chars
A decision has been made, literally (a) few minutes ago, to suspend the program. The last day of classes is basically today.
Quoted verbatim by The Daily Orange from Florence program director Sasha Perugini, who announced the suspension at an in-person meeting with students; the parenthetical '(a)' is the newspaper's clarification of her spoken phrasing and is preserved.
Delivered in person rather than by SMS or email because students were assembled at the Florence Center, an unusual channel for an emergency notification.
Students were asked to leave the program by Sunday, making this one of the earliest US study-abroad COVID-19 recalls, days before the broader wave of Italy evacuations.
FOLLOW-UPWebsite
Approximate reconstruction453 chars
The University has made the difficult decision to close the academic program at our Florence campus and to assist our students with returning to the United States. Concern for the safety, well-being and free movement of the 342 students in the program has guided this decision. Students should not return to Main Campus until after spring break in order to comply with a two-week quarantine guideline from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from the official Syracuse University News statement; the 342-student figure and the post-spring-break / two-week CDC quarantine guidance are the verified details preserved here.
The follow-up adds the operational instructions, return logistics and quarantine timing, that the in-person announcement could not, which is why it is sequenced after the verbal notification.
Context

Background

In late February 2020, COVID-19 was spreading rapidly through northern Italy, and Syracuse University acted earlier than most US institutions to evacuate its Florence study-abroad center. On February 25, program director Sasha Perugini announced the suspension at an in-person meeting, telling students, per The Daily Orange, that the decision had been made minutes earlier and that classes were effectively over. The next day the official Syracuse University News post confirmed the closure, citing concern for the safety and free movement of the 342 students and instructing them not to return to Main Campus until after spring break to satisfy a two-week CDC quarantine guideline. The Florence recall was a leading edge of the nationwide collapse of study-abroad programs that followed across Italy and South Korea, distinguishing this case as a mandatory recall rather than the shelter-in-place advisories seen during the 2015-2017 European terror attacks.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    Important Coronavirus Update, Academic Program in Florence to Be Suspended - Syracuse University News
    news.syr.edu
  2. Student Paper
    SU Abroad suspends Florence program as coronavirus spreads - The Daily Orange
    dailyorange.com
  3. Source
    Universities pulling students from Italy and South Korea as coronavirus outbreak spreads - The Washington Post
    washingtonpost.com
Tags
study-abroadflorenceitalycovid-19evacuationinternationalglobal-program2020
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion