2020年3月9日、早稲田大学は現在世界中で蔓延している新型コロナウイルスの感染に対応するため、4月1・2日に予定しされていた入学式を中止することをホームページ上で発表した。さらに、2020年度の授業開始も、予定した4月6日（月）を早くとも4月20日（月）以降の開始になるよう繰り下げを決めた。
Regarding the cancellation of the entrance ceremony, Aiji Tanaka, President of Waseda University, said, "The entrance ceremony is a place to reaffirm the idea that new students joining Waseda University will study at this university from now on. That is the first step in developing my dream for the future. It is a pity that I had to cancel the entrance ceremony. Your disappointment is me. I am very sorry because I can easily imagine that it will be dozens of times larger than the faculty members of Waseda University. "
Regarding the postponement of the class start date, about 8000 international students study at Waseda University every year, and more than 4000 current students study abroad, and many of them spend their spring break abroad.Therefore, when the class starts on April 4, it is said that the decision was made in consideration of the possibility of having to enter and return to Japan in the middle of March, causing great anxiety and causing health risks.
Waseda University announced that it will post a welcome message from the president to new students on its website on April 4, following the cancellation of the entrance ceremony.It is a time when there are many social uncertainties such as the spread of the new coronavirus infection, but we are calling for students to calmly judge and act.
