Swarthmore College President Valerie Smith contacted faculty, staff, students, and families on March 17 to announce that the college would continue educating its students remotely, through online classes, through the end of the semester. Commencement, too, will be affected. “All of us were looking forward to gathering together under the canopy of tulip and white oak trees,” Smith wrote. A planning committee will develop a “creative virtual alternative” to be held, in all likelihood, on the already scheduled date of Sunday, May 24. All campus activities will be canceled through at least May 31.