A meningitis outbreak has canceled student events at Providence College.

Patrick Anderson of the Providence Journal has the story.

Providence College chess tournament canceled due to meningitis outbreak

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A regional chess tournament at Providence College was postponed Saturday as school officials began organizing meningitis-response efforts in the space where it was to be held.

Steven J. Maurano, assistant vice president at P.C., said the Slavin Center student union, where the Providence College Open Chess Tournament was scheduled for Saturday, is needed for activities related to a recent meningitis outbreak, including information sessions and vaccination clinics.

“The tournament was not postponed due to health concerns, but we are doing vaccination clinics this week and those are going to occupy a fair amount of the space in our student union – not only for the clinics themselves, but also for staging rooms,” Maurano said.

After a second Providence College student came down with a suspected case of meningococcal meningitis this week, state health officials in consultation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Friday evening announced that they would hold vaccination clinics on campus as soon as vaccine could be delivered.

Just before noon, Maurano said he believed the vaccine would arrive on campus later in the day, if it hadn’t already. That would allow the clinics to begin Sunday.

All 3,800 students and staff under age 25 living on campus are advised to get vaccinated, although Maurano said he did not believe the college could require it.

Other than the chess tournament, which had been expected to draw between 30 and 60 people from across the region, Maurano said he was not aware of any other campus events that would be postponed or canceled as a result of the meningitis cases.