First day of online classes for UC Berkeley students due to COVID-19

BERKELEY, Calif. - Tuesday is the first day UC Berkeley suspended most in-person classes on the Cal campus in favor of online teaching. It's a move that will hopefully prevent COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) from spreading throughout the campus.

While the campus is officially still open, the major center of student activity was all but empty.

Musicians gave a free performance, but few were on campus to listen.

The usual row of tables promoting various political and social causes was down to one— a pro-life student group.

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"We're trying to provoke conversation. And there's no converation to be had on this campus today," said student Brooke Karmie.

No one connected with the campus has been diagnosed with COVID-19, or is in quarantine, but UC Berkeley has become one of several Bay Area colleges that have, or are about to cancel most in-person classes.

Bay Area school closures related to coronavirus

Some lab classes and performing arts classes can continue meeting in person.

Cal joins Stanford, San Francisco State, San Jose State, and Santa Clara University among others in replacing now empty lecture halls with online teaching.

One Cal student was taking her mid-term exam on health economics online in a cafe.

The student said she prefers classes in the classroom, but did say the exams are nice to have online. 

Another Cal student said her online psychology class felt different then the regular class.

"When you have a lot of people around you who are there taking notes, being focused. It's so much easier because you have this social pressure. But if you are in your room there are so many distractions and it doesn't feel like a real class," Klara Luczka. 

Brian Baumann just finished teaching his first online Mongolian Studies class. He says it will take some getting used to.

"I can't see them when I show the slides. I'm an old-school guy. I prefer the person-to-person classroom. In a pinch, I'm amazed this works as well as it does," he said.

Almost everyone agrees Cal just isn't the same without and the life they breathe into the campus.

"You miss them. Teachers miss the students more than the students miss the teachers," said Professor Baumann.

The online classes will last the next two weeks then comes spring break. After that no one can say for sure if regular classes will resume, or whether the coronavirus will continue to dictate what happens next.