On-campus residents resist new COVID-19 policies
August 31, 2020
STATESBORO — In order to try and limit contact among students in the 2020-2021 academic year, on-campus residents are no longer allowed to have guests.
In an email sent out August 21, University Housing reminded residents of the new amendments to the Residential Community Guide saying, “Failure to wear a mask in the hallways and outdoors or failure to abide by the no guest policy will result in disciplinary action through the conduct process.”
Gabby Brantley, a resident at Southern Pines, said she and many others on her hall have not been following this new rule, as is the case for many of our residence halls.
“We can’t really go to class, so we’re stuck in our dorms and it gets really boring, “ said Brantley. “If we know anyone that’s been exposed then, of course, we don’t invite them over.”
Having guests does put other roommates more at risk, but Brantley explained that she and her roommates check with each other before having guests.
Diamond Briggs, a first-year resident at Southern Pines was moved in with three other roommates who were strangers to her.
“It’s the equivalent of a guest” Briggs said about her new roommates.
“We know the risk of bringing people into our space. If we want to we should be able to take that risk,” said Briggs.
Briggs feels that if she paid to stay there then she should be able to decide for herself.
In the email that was sent to Eagle Village residents, the staff writes, “We know these policies are not ideal especially for your first year in college. However, your safety is our top priority.”
These new policies, however, have not been completely ignored by all. Zane Ata, a freshman living at Centennial Place, says he has noticed others not following these rules but he himself has not invited any guests or thrown any parties like some of his neighbors.
“You’re as safe as you want to be,” Ata said. “If you just go out and party every night then yeah, you’re going to get what’s coming.”
Jim Wells • Sep 2, 2020 at 1:59 pm
As a former graduate of GSC not GSU. Class of 1971, I have to wonder at the level of blatant immaturity of these “whining babies” on campus. Do they not understand this virus “loves” to spread among students not practicing safe behavior, such as keeping a safe distance, wearing face masks, and above all, not crowding in places like Nat’s Landing?
Irresponsible behavior, being down right Stupid, and defying common sense is a roadmap to contracting this virus. And, whining, acting as if the real world owes freshmen a pass, and complaining about being inconvenienced for not being able to have guests in dorm rooms or on-campus apartments only proves my point that these “babies” need a swift kick in the @$$. Get over yourselves and grow the Hell up.
Noah Garman • Sep 1, 2020 at 2:31 pm
If our safety was truly the university’s top priority, they would give students far more options for remote learning, in addition to updating the coronavirus statistics daily, instead of weekly. Many of us (including myself) looked forward to seeing our friends/significant others after several months of being cooped up at home. Being told that we’re expected to give up such a huge part of the college experience in the name of quelling the virus was very confusing, especially considering that we’re still required to report to campus for what are quite literally in-person zoom meetings (and that Paulson stadium is reopening and welcoming 6000+ spectators). Several other institutions have shown that outright banning certain activities only makes them more probable to occur in a clandestine and rather risky manner (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/08/31/covid-cases-college-fall-semester-nc-state-syracuse/5659611002/).
The no-guest policy itself makes very little sense. I can understand limiting how many guests you can have over at a time, or restricting the time periods during which they can stay. However, outright banning guests is bewildering for two reasons. The first is that the people who actually follow this rule to any reasonable extent are not going to be the ones that would otherwise attend parties or have multiple guests over without caring about the consequences. All this is doing is making things even more insufferable for the people who are actually “doing right.” The second reason has to do with the nature of roommates and guests themselves. Most guests are people who spend a substantial amount of their time on campus with each other. If one of them catches the virus, the other is very likely to as well. It’s hard to see how having each of these potentially infected people living near several others (who are likely outside of their regular cohort) is going to do any more good than just letting them spend most of their time with people who they know very well.
So far, if I had to summarize this year’s college experience–with its mandated isolation, confusing zoom lectures, lack of communication with students, and administration constantly riding their moral high horse instead of being receptive to their students and honest about their reasons for remaining open–in one word, it would be anorexic.
Several of us chose to attend university because we wanted to experience what living at least somewhat independently would be like. Some of us wanted to dedicate our time to study the things we’re truly interested in. Others simply wanted to see their friends and loved ones again. We’re being denied all of that, in some shape or form–and for what? The ability to go on campus two days a week? Being expected to learn Calculus II (which has absolutely nothing to do with me since I’m a Computer Science student) through synchronous meetings where the professor is clearly struggling to teach online, and the students are unironically learning more from Khan Academy? What exactly is the point in us being back here if we’re being deprived of our agency, and are stuck in some bizarre limbo between synchronous and in-person learning, where we benefit from neither?