Students weigh in on reopening campus: ‘implemented because of greed’
Outdoor class rooms on campus.
November 3, 2020
After spending months on Zoom for virtual instruction, California Lutheran University will be reintroducing students into the classrooms, residence halls and campus.
An Oct. 29 email from the Office of the President to students, faculty and staff with the subject line โA gradual return to campus,โ explained what this transition will look like come spring semester.
โWe have worked hard to make it as safe as possible. There are hand-sanitizer stations […] many common areas have […] plexiglass, building access is limited to those with active key cards, and students and employees are overwhelmingly adhering to the face-covering requirements,โ President Lori Varlotta said in the email.
Ryan Van Ommeren, the associate vice president for Facilities Planning & Operations, said in a Zoom interview that Cal Lutheran will enforce these safety measures as well as one-way corridors in campus buildings and all classrooms will be cleaned twice daily.
According to the CDC, COVID-19 is most commonly spread between people who are within six feet of each other via droplets that are released when someone with the virus coughs, talks or breathes. The CDC recommends that all people wash their hands often, avoid close contact with others, wear a mask that covers your mouth and nose and clean and disinfect common areas.
Despite these changes to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus, some students are still uneasy about returning to campus life.
โRight now being on campus is a really scary idea even with the safety measures in place. I think Cal Lu has done a decent job of handling the pandemic but if the student count on campus were to increase the consequences could be frightening. I think continued social distancing and limited interaction is what needs to happen to ensure student safety,โ said Maya Fleming, Associated Students of California Lutheran University junior senate representative, Sisters’ Circle vice president and Black Student Union presidential assistant, in an email interview.
In a poll on The Echoโs Twitter account, @cluechonews, 63% of respondents said they would prefer classes stay fully virtual while 37% said they would prefer some in person classes in the spring. The Twitter account has 820 followers and not all responded to the poll.
Contrastingly, a poll on The Echoโs Instagram, which has 1,016 followers, found that 40% of respondents would prefer all virtual classes and 60% voted in favor of having some classes in person.
Fleming said she received an email from the university asking her preference of learning style and Van Ommeren said faculty were surveyed on their preferences, as well.
โOf course I would prefer to be in person but I think being on campus right [now] isn’t safe for anyone and itโs good that weโre allowed the option to not be there,โ Fleming said.
Because Ventura County is in the red tier, or the second-most restrictive in the state’s tiered reopening plan, Cal Lutheran is currently allowed to hold indoor classes at 25% of normal capacity. Van Ommeren said that while many classes will be offered in person, students will have the option to learn virtually and continue being remote for the rest of the year. He said that cameras will be used to follow the professors around the classroom as they teach an in-person class.
Despite the opportunity to choose how students learn, some international students feel they are at an unfair disadvantage.
โI think it is not fair because some international students take classes outside the [country],โ Samer Atwi, a senior international student at Cal Lutheran said in an email interview.
According to Cal Lutheran’s “quick facts,” students from 49 countries attend the university and not all have been able to return to the U.S. since the pandemic began.
โI honestly think itโs really crazy to hold in-person classes again and also only being implemented because of greed. While I understand Cal Lu is a business, these are real lives that are being affected by this pandemic and it should be treated as such,โ Fleming said.
Van Ommeren said he wants to express gratitude to all of the under 400 students on campus who have been โtremendousโ about following the new safety guidelines on campus.
โI give them all the credit in the world,โ he said.
Varlotta said in the Oct. 29 email that Cal Lutheran cannot continue to “survive or thrive” in its current virtual format.
โWe can do this. โฆ We are doing this, and so many of you have played a key role in the go-forward plan,โ Varlotta said.
Dr Peter Carlson • Nov 18, 2020 at 12:47 pm
I am intrigued by the decision to headline the article by focusing on the most sensational of accusations, rather than on the legitimate safety concerns of students and faculty. There is no doubt that financial considerations are factoring into the decisions, but it is also important to remember that the university is, arguably, facing the greatest existential crisis in its history. There are colleges and universities that will not survive COVID-19, and I’m hoping to G-d that Cal Lutheran will not be one of the fatalities of the pandemic.
I will not claim to be satisfied with every decision being handed down from the administration, but I do think that it is important for us all to remember the nightmarish complexity of our situation; in that vein, headlines that have no more depth than most memes floating around social media platforms are at best unhelpful and at worst sensationalist.
Cameron • Nov 3, 2020 at 10:43 pm
I understand that this article is focused on the specific concerns of some students, but I am confused by the lack of consideration for any positive aspects of this reopening plan.
What about students who have learning disabilities and other mental health factors that have had a severe negative impact on their success with online-only classes and resources?
What about Senior students who are trying their best to build relationships with their professors for graduate school-related guidance and recommendation letters, but have difficulty doing so when they are unable to meet with them in person?
What about Senior students who were looking forward to their upper-division classes and capstone classes that relate to their learning passions, only to feel demotivated by the completely different learning experience of online-only classes?
What about students who found their passion in research-related subjects and looked forward to conducting their own meaningful experiments to help gain experience for graduate school or provide better insight on an issue by utilizing the scientific methods that they have worked so hard to learn, only to have these opportunities significantly diminished by online-only learning?
I also do not understand how implementing in-person classes at 25% capacity, six-foot social distancing, and some in-person classes taking place in fully-equipped outdoor classrooms could be considered to have a greed-related motive? Students would also still have the option to take hybrid or online classes if they feel it is necessary for their health, so I continue having a hard time understanding the seemingly fear-mongering reporting related to this plan?
As someone who has struggled in many ways with the current modality of learning, and knows an overwhelmingly large amount of other students who share the same struggles, it seems as though there are many other considerations to be made in order to recognize the positive aspect of this issue. Especially when considering the extensive safety measures in place to keep our campus community safe and keep everyone at low risk.
Thank you for addressing the downsides to the reopening plan, as the pandemic is still a threatening matter for many of those in our community and those throughout the world. Thank you also for allowing me to have an outlet to peacefully voice my own opinion. I just have many thoughts on this issue and genuinely hope it does not come off in the wrong way, as I understand these have been very stressful and confusing times for everyone.
I am in no way trying to say that someone else’s opinion is wrong or that other concerns should be disregarded. I just hoped that a News article about “students weighing in on reopening the campus” would have included other takes on the issue including the specific opinions of more than two students. I still very much appreciate and respect the reporter and the student voices of this article.