The flu (and news of the flu) spread much slower than COVID. The decision to keep dorms open was most likely made with limited information. To put this into per

The flu (and news of the flu) spread much slower than COVID. The decision to keep dorms open was most likely made with limited information. To put this into perspective: many Harvard/MIT students didn't realize there was a deadly flu until they arrived on campus and were told to turn around. [0] Those students then had to alert any other students or travelers they met on their way home to also turn around. This propagation took a few weeks. But lets entertain whether or not this was a good decision(it wasn't): * Impromptu hospitals had to be arranged for at the A.T.O., Delt, Fiji and Theta Chi fraternities within weeks of the flu hitting Palo Alto. [1] * Administration banned social gathering and unwarranted travel. Students were quarantined on campus and could not leave. Masks were compulsory everywhere on campus. Anyone not complying with the masks guidelines received a fine (this is somewhat less harsh than the police beatings in Boston/Cambridge). * By October, it was considered a success that only around ten students died. Meanwhile, not a singular undergraduate from MIT died on campus, and they continued their studies with an accelerated semester the following year. [2][3] -- Notes: [0] I've edited this from "flu" to "deadly flu." Initially, a few colleges (MIT included) opted for delaying the semester a few weeks. This led students to believe the flu was not too serious, resulting in students being caught mid-travels before being told how deadly the flu really was. This led to a lot of confusion and the MIT President apologized sometime that Winter in a letter (and later in The Corporation's yearly report). -- Sources: [1] https://news.stanford.edu/thedish/2018/03/15/100-years-ago-the-spanish-flu-hit-the-stanford-campus/ https://news.stanford.edu/thedish/2018/03/15/100-years-ago-t... [2] https://news.mit.edu/2020/3-questions-archivist-nora-murphy-how-mit-experienced-1918-flu-pandemic-0505 https://news.mit.edu/2020/3-questions-archivist-nora-murphy-... [3] MIT Archives & Distinctive Collections