In order to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone at Shippensburg University, the art department canceled its annual trip to Europe and other future trips in response to COVID-19 coronavirus.

The university is currently not permitting trips in order to help prevent the possibility of another outbreak.

This year, the art department had planned to take a trip to the Netherlands in March during spring break; however, because of the pandemic, the department canceled and refunded all expenses.

SU is one of many universities nationwide that is currently not supporting travel because of the coronavirus. 

SU art and design professor Michael Campbell, head coordinator of the trip, said the art department has no plans for trips abroad or otherwise until the coronavirus pandemic ends.

Before shutdowns, Campbell and students were preparing themselves to be fully immersed in Dutch culture.

Travelers would visit attractions like the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank house. The trip to the Netherlands was bound to be an all-around educational and inspiring trip for those who had been planning to attend. 

The Dutch government set in place a travel ban on March 19, 2020. This ban prohibits all non-essential travel from countries outside of Europe. 

As of Sept. 14, the only non-European countries that the ban does not include are Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. 

As of Sept. 2, there were roughly 40,000 new cases a day in the United States, according to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci. 

Many countries are also not permitting travel from the U.S. Given the unpredictability of the virus as well as the lack of a vaccine, it is unclear when the travel ban will be lifted for all countries. 

As long as citizens continue to follow the correct protocols to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, everything will eventually return to normal. 

Doing things such as social distancing, wearing a mask and quarantining if needed are imperative during these times and by properly doing them we can decrease the number of coronavirus cases and ensure that everything will go back to the way it once was.

The art department is looking forward to its European spring break trip once the coronavirus pandemic ends and Europe lifts its air travel bans on the U.S. As of right now, the department wants everyone to be safe and to stay hopeful.  

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