Previously, this hit Athens hard, as the county was in level 3 status and some local businesses were forced to close temporarily. With the pandemic not slowing down and many campuses around the country adopting online options, the question on everyone’s lips is “Should OU’s Campus open?”
While many possess fiery opinions on the issue, the answer is obvious, schools should not reopen this fall.
For starters, flu season spreads wildly on campus. This is from a combination of being introduced to an unfamiliar environment, many faces passing through shared spaces and a lack of social distancing at bars and parties and in dorms. Now add the chance of contracting COVID-19 into a storm of sneezing, coughing and fevers. The amount of people who may incorrectly self-diagnose, and refuse to change their lifestyles accordingly, will cause a disastrous outbreak.
Also, OU’s custodial layoffs make me doubt that the campus will sanitize common areas often enough. This is especially true for newsrooms, computer labs in Schoonover and lecture halls. Even if they rehired custodial workers en masse, that would only put more people’s lives at risk. It’s extremely unlikely that OU would pay its custodians enough to merit the massive undertaking necessary.
Truly, it’s a lose-lose.
Another key part of the college experience is that it’s the first taste of independence for many young adults. This taste of freedom, though, will be sour with Athens’s new rules. Campus life will be dull. There are plans to be strict with not allowing people from other resident’s halls into other dorms, dining halls will be to-go and again and 10-person limits on gathering sizes. The freedom to go meet someone at a party or have a friend come over to study from a lecture hall won’t be workable.
I was only a freshman last year and the friends I made walking around, bonding over Shively nuggets and in various spots around Campus were an unforgettable part of the experience. I feel bad for new freshmen who may not get those same experiences.
Instead of following tradition, education should use this moment to better revolutionize the college experience. Lecture halls and in-person classes are important, but this is a perfect time to take advantage of the amazing technology available at our fingertips. Many of the companies we’re aspiring to work for are implementing remote-work policies, so we should follow their lead. There are signs that the remote work revolution will continue, so shouldn’t our schools take steps to prepare us for the future?
Of course, this would be a different conversation if cases were declining or if there was a greater response prepared. But there’s not. Cases, deaths and hysteria are rising across the country. For the thousands of lives lost & families disrupted, normalcy will never return.
Finally, as a community, we must do everything in our power to protect our most members. It may suck to not come to campus for a semester, but imagine the heartbreak if someone didn’t have the privilege of coming home. These may seem like doomsday scenarios, but remember that campus closed indefinitely when Coronavirus had killed under 100. Protect our most vulnerable members.
Why should we go back after thousands have died?