The image was taken from Skidmore’s website.
Author’s Note: These responses were gathered in early September and certain sentiments may have changed since then. This article is a first in a series surrounding COVID-19 on campus. Skidmore News has reached out to different departments on campus and will be publishing those responses next week.
In early September, as students were adjusting to the new reality of life on campus during this pandemic, Pass The Mic (PTM) paired up with Skidmore News to collect student responses regarding how COVID was being handled on campus. PTM, a social justice collective on campus, gathered student comments through Instagram and a google form. All identifying student information was removed before the responses were provided to Skidmore News. Skidmore News received 24 responses from PTM, which are provided below. (Although not all responses are quoted, all quotes convey common concerns and are therefore representative of the majority of responses.)
As of early September, students on campus expressed feelings of fear and abandonment. Students feared misinformation from the administration and felt as though the college was abandoning them in the midst of this public health crisis. The majority of students who responded expressed frustration at the administration for a lack of accountability and action towards COVID-19 violations.
A number of students expressed concerns over the accuracy of the COVID-19 dashboard, mistrusting the school’s reported number of positive cases. One student stated: “I feel like the dashboard is not fully reporting everything, there are students who are saying that their roommates are experiencing symptoms or something like that, but then the dashboard is not reflecting them as people in quarantine or suspected cases.”
Many responses discussed a lack of action of Campus Safety and the Office of Residential Life. Students felt an unfair burden of rule enforcement has been placed on Residential Assistants (RAs). One student explained: “RAs are being asked to do the emotional, mental and physical labor of campo, reslife, and health services with no hazard pay and no regard for their health.”
Another student conveyed unease about the cleaning policies in the dorms over the lack of “disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer.” The student explained, “When asked about the ‘cleaning kits’ each suite was supposed to receive, ResLife gave vague answers and seemed unsure themselves [if] said kits would ever arrive. It was just recently confirmed that those cleaning kits will never arrive and that students are expected to clean up using dry paper towels.”
A common theme across all the responses was the feeling that many members of the Skidmore Community did not care about the pandemic. “It feels like the part of the student body who cares about the lives and health of everyone are the only ones carrying this campus. It feels like Skidmore is not really enforcing any rules and they just send emails and act like that’s enough enforcement,” one student wrote.
The role of Campus Safety in COVID rule violation enforcement was also commonly discussed in responses. One student explained their experience of leaving work late and walking across Case Green where they have often seen students partying “and yet there is no presence of Campo there to make sure that they are sticking to the rules by socially distancing and not sharing drinks/etc. Campo always busted parties pre-COVID but now they’re always not there.”
Despite the majority of responses expressing negative experiences with the enforcement of COVID-19 rules, there were a few students who felt Skidmore has done well so far. One student wrote: “Skid[more] has been far more proactive than other schools about COVID - great job so far. Obvi[ously we] can always be better but we are far better off than so many other schools in the US.” Another student stated, “Skidmore actually did a really good job reopening. Better than other schools.”
According to the Skidmore COVID dashboard as of October 5, 2020, there are only 2 active cases. Nearby schools have been reporting high numbers: SUNY Albany has reported 123 new cases in the past 14 days, and SUNY Oswego has 30 active cases. On September 18, SUNY Oswego announced a temporary switch to fully remote classes in an attempt to curb the outbreak.
Although Skidmore is currently reporting no cases and seems to be performing very well, it is clear that many students are unhappy with the way COVID has been handled on campus. Students are looking for more transparent communication from the administration and proper enforcement of COVID-19 guidelines by Campus Safety and Residential Life. Check back soon for more student responses, and check out Skidmore News (@skidmorenews) and PTM (@passthemicskid) on Instagram to participate in these polls and share your own experiences.