Escalating COVID-19 Fears and Executive Order Force All Students Off-Campus
By Tara Guaimano & Sarah Lynch
Nkanyiso Khumalo ‘20 spent the past 48 hours packing and moving out of his dorm at the North End Housing Complex, amid the news that all students would vacate the premises by March 27 at 5 p.m. due to COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus.
“It has been a very stressful couple of hours,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do.”
Khumalo, a senior international student from Johannesburg, South Africa, attends Marist as an applied math major on the MasterCard Foundation Scholarship. “My borders technically are not closed, but there are no flights. There is no way I can get home; it is not possible — and once they start flying, the flights will be extremely expensive.”
All students remaining on the Marist College campus must leave residential housing by March 27. The 91 affected students, both domestic and international, received notification on Wednesday, March 25 from Vice President for Student Affairs Deborah DiCaprio.
DiCaprio wrote that the college’s decision came “as a result of Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order last week, and the updated guidance from health care professionals.” She added that students looking for an exception due to extraordinary circumstances may contact the Housing Office to seek arrangements. Otherwise, students must “find accommodation elsewhere with relatives, friends, sponsors, or others.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the “New York State on PAUSE” executive order, effective from Sunday, March 22 at 8 p.m., closing non-essential businesses and prohibiting non-essential gatherings.
Once Khumalo would return home to Johannesburg, he’d be met with limited Wi-Fi access to complete his courses online, and risk bringing exposures to the coronavirus to his household.
Khumalo’s most viable option is to look for a short-term lease in off-campus housing, he said. “Housing said they would look for flights for me,” he said. “To me, it would be problematic, because I live with my grandmother and I’d return after being in airports.”
Last week, Cuomo signed the “New York State on PAUSE” executive order, effective from Sunday, March 22 at 8 p.m., closing non-essential businesses and prohibiting non-essential gatherings. Executive Vice President Geoffrey L. Brackett issued a memorandum to the Marist community on Thursday afternoon addressing the “misunderstandings and/or misrepresentations of the College’s policy.”
“It is important to recognize that the College, operating under the Executive Order from Governor Cuomo, does not have the full capability it would normally have,” Brackett said, noting the suspension of food services. “The few essential employees continuing to work on campus are doing so without personal protective equipment, and without the full resources of the College to which they would ordinarily have access.”
Brackett said that in the event a student lacks the means to travel home, Marist will provide emergency assistance. “In circumstances where students have exhausted all other options, the College may permit them to remain in housing, but we need to recognize that the bar will be set high for these cases,” the email said.
“In circumstances where students have exhausted all other options, the College may permit them to remain in housing, but we need to recognize that the bar will be set high for these cases,”
He also said the college is actively considering appeals from certain students at this time, and will provide meal allowances to students who are allowed to stay on campus and cannot afford adequate food supply. “This timeline is in the best interests of all involved because of the heightened risk of COVID-19 in our community,” Brackett said.
On March 13, President Dennis Murray announced that a Marist student had tested presumptively positive for the virus. Cases in Dutchess County continue to rise, and the county government confirmed its first death due to COVID-19 on March 22.
The problems for senior international students during Covid-19 looking to pursue a career in the U.S. are complex, Khumalo said. He is planning to accept a job offer in Chicago, and is in the process of applying for the Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 visa students — which has been interrupted by the possibility of having to leave the U.S. in between graduation and starting a job.
“It doesn’t make sense how this is for our safety — I don’t see how this is good for anyone.”
“If you want to work here, there is not a way they can apply for it at home,” he said. “The timeline is crazy for me because I want to apply for my OPT.”
Khumalo also said that although many students are able to go home without government travel restrictions, some are met with expensive data rates in their home countries and opposite time zones, making online coursework difficult.
“It is hard to see how if I fly, and there is no way I would find a flight without it being through Europe, how is me going through that process good for my safety?” he said.
Now, he and his group of friends are looking into a sublet at FoxRun at Fulton, an off-campus apartment complex.
“Most of us have couches to stay on for now,” Khumalo said.
Many Marist students and community members took to social media on Wednesday evening to address concerns for international students with limited resources and without friends or family in the tri-state area.
Aliyah Wilson ‘21 shared DiCaprio’s email to Instagram, garnering comments and shares from fellow students and community members. Marist replied to her post reaffirming their commitment to helping international students, but Wilson found the response insensitive and void of important details regarding resources available for affected students.
“I think that they should have an extension. I think that they should offer transportation. I think that they should have mental health support for students on campus...this is not just that they don’t have the resources,” Wilson said. “This is a really stress-inducing time. Marist needs to take precautions and think, ‘If this was my child, if this was my family member, how would I go about it?’ and treat students that way instead of like this is a business and they’re just customers who don’t matter.”
Sabrina Adhikari ‘21, an international student from Nepal and president of the Marist International Student Association, initiated a Google document where community members can offer to host international students, assist in packing or moving, or provide storage. A number of students, professors and alumni listed their information and resources to aid affected students. A GoFundMe and Change.org petition started in response to the news, as well.
Screenshot of the Google Document circulating the Marist community offering resources of storage and places to stay for displaced students. Acquired by the Marist Circle.
Sabell Strachan ‘20 and her family have spent time reaching out to local Poughkeepsie and New York City organizations to find additional accommodations for international students. “There were so many other students and professors who have helped with this whole situation,” she said. “To see students and professors in the Marist community come together is unbelievable.”
After Marist announced its transition to online classes for the remainder of the semester, international students received an email from Wendy Fritz, the assistant director for International Student Services, on March 18 encouraging students to fly home if possible, but also stated, “If you need to remain on-campus, the Office of Housing and Residential Life will accommodate you.”
The email conceded that “as circumstances and variables change, the college needs to respond to those changes,” but did not provide information in case of the campus’s closure.
Students have created a GoFundMe titled “Save Marist Students,” circulating social media. Acquired by the Marist Circle.
Students have also created a petition circulating social media. Acquired by the Marist Circle.
Following DiCaprio’s email on Wednesday, Fritz asserted in an email to international students that when “the coronavirus was first detected in NYC, the college genuinely thought international students could be accommodated. Truly, the plan was to accommodate students in the north end where the McCormick Café could be open for food.”
“When Governor Cuomo made the decision to essentially shut-down the state, accommodating the students in a safe and healthy way became increasingly challenging,” Fritz said.
Fritz discouraged students from planning to return in the summer and encouraged looking for a short-term lease or an apartment in FoxRun.
Samuel Powers ‘22 expressed worries as an international student from Thailand.
“I’m fortunate in the sense that I do have family in the U.S. that I’m actually going to stay with as my back-up plan, but that wasn’t ideal because a lot of my family is over 60 [years old] and they’re more at risk to the virus if they were to get it. Also, my parents and I honestly thought that it was safer to stay put and not travel because I’m not at risk and not putting other people at risk.”
Powers added that “the college did not provide sufficient warning or resources to assist students in this position.”
For Khumalo, staying in New York for the time being is ideal.
“Say we don’t have the virus, but New York is one of the hotspots, then we may be taking it somewhere too,” Khumalo said. “It doesn’t make sense how this is for our safety — I don’t see how this is good for anyone.”