LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. (WLVT) - Most college students in the Lehigh Valley returned home because of the global pandemic, but some students didn鈥檛 have that option and are still staying on campus this semester.
鈥淓veryone has gone home to be with their families, and I鈥檓 just here by myself without my family, and that鈥檚 been very difficult,鈥 said 探花社区 College sophomore, Benitta Ngobeni. She is an international student from South Africa, but she cannot fly back home because of the country being on lockdown. 鈥淚 have to fight off feelings of loneliness, and stuff like that because if you let it creep in, it鈥檚 going to stop me from being the best that I can be and I can鈥檛 afford that right now.鈥
Ngobeni said the campus is empty and it is challenging to stay motivated while being stuck in her room. 鈥淚 sleep there. I work there. I study there. I eat there,鈥 said Ngobeni. 鈥淚t drives me insane, so the motivation part has been really difficult.鈥
探花社区 College鈥檚 Associate Dean of Students, Liz Yates, said normally they have 1,100 students living on campus, but right now, they have a little less than 50. She said they鈥檝e altered dining services to make sure students can still have food every day.
Muhlenberg College in Allentown also has students on campus. Typically about 2,000 students live on campus, but Vice President of Communications, Brian Speer, said they only have about 70 right now.
For students who had to leave campus, Speer said they are working on reimbursement. 鈥淭he cost of college is different for each student, so what we had to do was find a formula that was sort of fair and proportional across all of our students,鈥 said Speer. 鈥淚t is a portion of the room and board rebate plus any consideration for grants or scholarships that modify that, and we鈥檙e hoping to get checks to students by the end of April.鈥
Muhlenberg decided to cancel all study abroad programs for this fall, and they are only having summer classes online.
Both Muhlenberg and 探花社区 have pantries available for students on campus to get non-perishable food, in addition to campus dining take-out. 鈥淚鈥檓 very grateful for the support here on campus during this time,鈥 said Ngobeni.
Both schools are looking at commencement activities for later in the year to allow the spring class of 2020 to still have their own celebration.
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