Is the Pack Protected? Students, Administration Respond to Spike
They call it a “Conklin party” –– groups of COVID-positive students gathering, unmasked, at Conklin Hall during their isolation.
Three days after one senior, who requested anonymity, arrived at the off-campus dormitory –– the night before Marist’s surge in cases brought the college to Alert Level: Orange and the college administration extended the pause to March 26 –– a Conklin party ensued. The student’s five COVID-positive roommates were at the party or friends’ rooms, and the senior spent the night alone in their “isolation space .”
“The way the building is set up, it is not clear which suites are for positive cases, which are for close contacts and which are for students who live in overflow housing for the semester,” the senior said. “I have no way of knowing where this party took place or which 'type' of student was there. However, I know that there were 15 to 20 students in one suite who 'all had covid,’ as per my two roommates who went.”
Another student, a freshman who requested anonymity, heard the parties, too. She began her quarantine in Conklin on March 18 after spending seven hours confined to a Champagnat dorm room with a COVID-positive roommate, awaiting transportation to quarantine. She worried about even using the common bathroom, afraid that she could infect the residents of her floor.
“I love Marist with all my heart. I’m in the Ambassador program. I’m training to be a tour guide, but they are not doing a good job right now,” the freshman said. “I have no idea what’s going on with them.”
Since the campus announced a modified pause on March 17, a chorus of student voices started to appear on social media, condemning the college’s handling of the outbreak. The Marist College Democrats demanded that the college “Protect the Pack Not the Profits” and outlined specific calls to action, namely to tighten security, stop housing COVID-positive students together, move classes earlier and acknowledge student concern. Their accompanying petition collected over 150 responses in one day.
“Students have made irresponsible decisions in the face of the pandemic. But the administration's lack of leadership has further endangered the campus and community as a whole,” read one section of the petition, which was created by a group calling itself “Concerned Marist Students. “Almost 200 cases in, and the college has only made their first steps HOURS ago. We're demanding that Marist take action now and put their students over their profits.”
On March 20, a post from the Poughkeepsie Observer –– a platform for “community stories” –– garnered further attention to the outbreak. A group of anonymous housemates penned a call to action in the Circle, and the comments section of the Circle’s COVID-19 updates drew student grievances and discussions with some posts exceeding 50 comments:
“When you protect the pack but the pack doesn’t protect you.”
“Seeing the way this is being handled from a distance is making me thankful for graduating on zoom last year.”
“There’s thousands of students. So maybe instead of blaming Marist you can blame your peers who are the ones actually spreading Covid.”
Student commenters and the recent petition particularly called attention to an attestation that appeared on the “Protect the Pack” iLearn page over the weekend, which included a waiver that some students found alarming. The Circle contacted college officials about the attestation, its origin and the impetus for its emergence on the site.
Executive Vice President Dr. Geoffrey Brackett said in an email that “students were made aware of the requirement to complete the attestation to the COVID-19 Amendment to the Student Code of Conduct several times... With some technology improvements, the COVID attestation reminder was placed in iLearn on Saturday for easier completion because a number of students had not yet completed this requirement for the Spring semester.”
The addendum to the Code of Conduct, most recently updated on Feb. 9, makes no mention of the college’s liability –– or lack thereof –– if a student contracts the virus. But a waiver now appears in the iLearn attestation in a section entitled “Special Notice To [Residential Students/Non-Residential Students] Regarding Potential Impact Of The COVID-19 Pandemic.”
The attestation includes a statement that the student “releases Marist College and its trustees, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors and representatives from any and all claims he/she/they may have in the future, waives all such claims, and agrees not to sue … for any such claims, arising out of personal or bodily injury (including death) caused directly or indirectly by the known or suspected presence of COVID-19 in or about the premises of Marist College, or any infection or illness associated therewith or resulting therefrom, including but not limited to claims arising out of the negligent acts or omissions of any or all of the foregoing persons/entities or others.”
Should students choose not to complete the attestation on iLearn, they could lose electronic access. The petition that circulated over the weekend calls for this waiver to be removed. “Students shouldn’t be forced to choose between their health and their studies,” the petition argues.
Brackett told the Circle that the college is actively putting together a “Town Hall” for Marist officials to answer student questions. “We want to do that to supplement the stream of emails and texts that get sent but also help to clarify issues of concern and policy as we work through the surge and into a more normal semester,” Brackett said. He added that he feels “CAUTIOUSLY optimistic” about the drop in active cases on March 22, the first drop on the dashboard since the start of the spring semester, despite 14 new cases.
Ahead of this potential town hall, the Circle welcomes questions that students wish to ask Marist officials. Email writethecircle@gmail.com.
Since the campus announced a modified pause on March 17, a chorus of student voices started to appear on social media, condemning the college’s handling of the outbreak. Source: Makena Gera ‘21