Berea College has canceled the spring semester and is forcing all students to move out of residence halls in the wake of the corona virus outbreak, President Lyle Roelofs announced Tuesday.

In a news release posted just after noon Tuesday, Roelofs said “it will not be possible to adequately assure student and employee safety in the circumstance of a case of COVID-19 occurring on campus.”

Classes will end Friday, March 13. While some schools are moving instruction online, Berea is choosing not to do that because most students who leave campus will no longer have internet access.

As a result, there are some residual effects of classes being canceled. There commencement ceremony will be canceled or postponed until it can be “conducted safely.” Summer academic travel is canceled. All student, faculty and staff travel supported by the school is canceled at least through the end of the semester. Also, all sports team’s seasons will be canceled after Thursday.

Roelofs apologized for the short notice of the announcement but added that the move would not halt all activity of the campus. All staff are expected to continue their responsibilities until further notice.

Berea is in Madison County, which has yet to have confirmed case of the corona virus. Six cases in Kentucky have been confirmed, the closest of which to Berea are two in Fayette County.

The full release can be found here .