Move-Out Day finally arrives
At last, the end-of-the-school year move-out process at Delaware State University has finally begun in the residential halls and apartment complexes.
Slowly, that is.
In the public health interest of social distancing, the University is allowing only a limited number of students to come per day. During the week of May 26-29, recent graduates are allowed to retrieve their belongings from the residential spaces – which largely involves only the University Village Apartments and the University Courtyard Apartments.
The move-out began May 26 with about 80 graduates scheduled that day to come get the possessions they left behind at the start of Spring Break. Each day is split into four two-hour interval times, and each student is assigned one of those periods.
Caitlyn Ward of Middletown, Del., who graduated with a BS in Accounting on May 16, arrived on the first day of the move-out with her mother, Lucinda Ward. When asked about her degree, her mother proudly beat her to the punch.
“My daughter got a 3.97 GPA, graduating Summa Cum Laude,” her mother said, adding that she expected nothing less from her child. Caitlyn plans to returns in the fall to pursue a Master’s degree and already has a job with the accounting firm of DeLoitte in Philadelphia, which, she said, will hold a position for her while she gets her second degree.
When it came to being without her possessions for a while, Caitlyn said she didn’t have it as bad as some students. “Because I live so close, I didn’t have all my things at school, but it was kind of the idea that my stuff was not all with me,” she said. “But I didn’t have to do without a lot of things.”
Jasmine Warren, another recent graduate who drove up from Manassas, Va., to get her things, said it was worse for her.
“I had enough clothes, but all of my shoes were here,” said Jasmine, who completed a BA in Mass Communications (Television, Radio and Film). “I didn’t have any of my textbooks to go through for the work I had. I had to complete it by the internet, which I am happy my professors accommodated. Still, it was not the same.”
She added, “I am so happy to get my stuff.”
About 270 graduates will return to campus get their possessions during the last week of May. Next, about 700 in-state students will return to move out throughout the month of June. Finally, approximately 1,000 out-of-state students will make the trip to Del State in July and early August to clear out their campus residences.
Students are required to complete a screening form 24 hours before they arrive, which affirms that they do not have any COVID-19 symptoms and have not been in close contact with anyone infected.
According the Office of Housing and Residential Education, only about 100 students – international, foster and other students with no other options – will live on campus during the summer.