By: Logan Bishop '24
Photos courtesy of Jin Wen Xie '24
As we are all aware, this year, which began with increased liberties regarding mask wearing and gathering, has taken a turn for the worse. On September 7, Chief Operating Officer and COVID-19 Director for William and Mary Amy Sebring, wrote to the student body in response to the recent spike of cases on campus. Her email reestablished what many students feared: the re-implementation of COVID protocols. Masks are once again required outside, dining will be take-out only, and students’ organizations have been pressured to hold meetings online.
The message was received wholly negatively by the student body. Many are frustrated with having to return to past restrictions after having them lifted for only a couple of short weeks. Others are concerned about the spike and what it means for the safety of themselves and fellow students, especially because the school’s quarantining procedures are much harder and more costly for students. Richmond Hall, which was previously used as a quarantine facility, has been converted back to a regular residential facility. The College will provide temporary housing in a hotel, but students have to figure out their own food, necessities, and accommodations if a longer stay is necessary. It is frustrating to have liberties taken away after only a couple of weeks; it is terrifying how many cases have been reported and how the College has not responded with better quarantining procedures or mandatory testing.
However, there is one shining ray of light many can hold onto: in-person classes. As of now, classes that are in person shall remain so. While the inability to gather in dining halls has caused despair campus wide, instruction remains the same. The classroom environment improves attention as students have less distractions in reach. Furthermore, students can engage in class discussion in the same room as their peers. Being able to look around and see other students actually working with you to learn, instead of digital boxes that seem to induce monotony and dissonance with the course material makes a huge difference in the college experience. This dissonance is countered by in person classes due to a class that is less distracted and, thus, more engaged.
Classrooms are our only sanctuary now. It has become more difficult to experience college as it was, as it should be, before COVID. The hardships of socialization have increased tenfold not only due to the increased restrictions, but also because of the culture of fear that has been fostered by the administration re-implementing regulations. It is “frustrating” how the administration has applied these new restrictions as we were getting a taste of freedom, of what college should be like. The ability to see our peers, to engage with social cliques, to exist outside of zoom rooms, has been taken.
The liberties we were afforded coming into the Fall semester have been stripped away. How long will the last bastion of normalcy last? How long will it be until we are confined to our rooms, to our little boxes on Zoom, once more? If the administration continues to increase restrictions it seems in a short period of time we will need to prepare ourselves, once more, for long sessions at the computer staring at other students trapped in boxes of their own.