As Valpo seems to be getting into the swing of things in terms of managing student quarantines, other schools are missing the mark. Whether you’ve been on NYU quarantine meal TikTok, are watching friends on other campuses get sent home or making bets on how many cases will be posted on Looking Forward, you’ve probably been thinking about all the different regulations being enforced.
Shortly after beginning instruction at UW Madison, students in two large dorms received an email that they would be beginning a two week quarantine in the dorm that night and gave a few hours to gather supplies. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sent all students home to complete the semester fully online. Both of these occurred within a few days or weeks of the start of the school year, leaving me to wonder how truly thought out these plans for safe returns to campus were.
With huge spikes in cases and universities becoming COVID-19 hotspots of their state, it’s no surprise that new regulations have been adapted in the past few weeks. While I applaud the leadership of these universities for acting quickly, many of these policies just don’t make sense and put the community at heightened risk.
It feels as though schools are attempting to put a Band-Aid over a bullet wound and leaving blatant gaps that allow for virus transmission.
The idea of quarantining an entire dorm of hundreds of students seems to be a very obviously bad idea. While the expectation is that students will stay in their rooms except for using the bathroom, seeming like it would limit the spread of cases, the likelihood of these rules truly being followed is low. Despite limiting room to room interaction, students must leave the dorm three times a day to stand in line and collect food from dining services.
I really feel for the RAs this year who are tasked with enforcing masks and social distancing. They didn’t sign up to risk their own health or act as a stand-in nurse for ill students. It seems as though for every positive policy, another oversight practically eliminates the effectiveness.
Two weeks in an enclosed space with new friends at the beginning of freshman year of college? Those dorms are a breeding ground for spreading COVID. There will undoubtedly be parties and irresponsible gatherings. There will also be vigilant students panicked by the actions of their peers. If half of a floor has tested positive, I think it’s safe to say the rest will likely be positive by the time they’re allowed to go back to mingling with the rest of campus. And then, what was even the point? It feels as though schools were so desperate to begin instruction and secure room and board deposits before they stopped to consider all the logistics.
As we’ve all heard a billion times now, these are unprecedented times and we’re all just figuring it out. I can only hope that these bumps along the way will bring greater awareness to both students and faculty of the seriousness of the pandemic and how we can best keep each other safe while limiting temptation.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of The Torch.
