Two Stunning Photos Of A Harvard Business School Classroom Show The Impact Of COVID

A Harvard Business School classroom Pre- and Post-COVID

To paraphrase the old song by Dinah Washington, “What a difference a pandemic makes!” Even the iconic HBS amphitheater classroom has changed overnight.

In the above photos, you can see what a Harvard Business School classroom looks like in more normal times and what it looks like during the COVID pandemic. In HBS’ hybrid format this fall, most students attend class via Zoom while just a few are able to be in a physical classroom with a professor.

The photos were shared by an administrator in a recent Zoom session with HBS alumni.

HBS INSTALLED 19 MILES OF PLEXIGLASS & PUT UP 6,000 SIGNS TO MAKE ITS CAMPUS SAFE

In the latest update on how the coronavirus is impacting life on campus, Executive Dean for Administration Angela Crispi and Dean Nitin Nohria recently noted a few of the rather dramatic changes. “We’ve spent some time walking around campus these last few days,” they wrote in a blog post on Sept. 10.  “There are visible signs of what’s different relative to last year at this time.  Some fun facts:  over the summer, we installed 19 miles of plexiglass, put up 6,000 signs, and moved 5,000 pieces of furniture to ensure the safety and well-being of our community.

“Yet today, we also saw wonderful signs of what’s absolutely typical of regular academic life:  students spread out across the Schwartz Common studying, eating, and chatting; students and faculty together in a classroom; the bustle of staff in Spangler and Wyss supporting our residential campus.  So we find ourselves comforted, in some way, when our final note of the day is remarkable for being unremarkable. Be well.”

In the last seven days since Sept. 10th, they added, Harvard University had conducted 9,436 COVID tests, with four new positive cases:  one undergraduate student, two graduate students, and one faculty, staff, and other affiliates.  “This represents a 0.04% positivity rate, compared with 0.8% for Massachusetts, 0.94% for Boston (as of 9/9; 14-day rate), and 0.18% for Cambridge (as of 9/9; 14-day rate).  You can find the Harvard dashboard here.”

DON’T MISS: A SURREAL GLIMPSE OF HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL DURING COVID or HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL ADOPTS A PARENTAL TONE, ASKING MBAS TO BEHAVE