March 13th marked the one-year anniversary of EMU deciding to send students home due to the pandemic. Since then, the United States has seen almost 30 million coronavirus cases and over 500,000 deaths, as well as many cultural changes related to the virus. Due to EMU’s response and regulations for returning to in-person instruction for the fall and spring semesters, there have only been 118 confirmed cases on campus, with zero community members positive or in isolation as of writing this article. The majority of these cases occurred during a one-month bump from late January to early February. Additional information regarding COVID-19 is available on EMU’s website.
Head of EMU Health Services Irene Kniss attributes the relatively low number of cases to “the students and how they have taken on the requirements.” She also wished to express gratitude towards Dean of Students Shannon Dycus for her involvement in planning for students to return safely to campus and in-person classes. Kniss hopes that the pandemic will begin to abate by the end of the semester and throughout the summer. She assures that the United States government pre ordered enough vaccines that now it is simply a question of production. These vaccines are paid for, other than small administration fees, and may be available at EMU by fall semester if the university is able to obtain the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
Sophomore Seth Andreas echoed the belief that EMU adapted well, stating, “clearly, we’ve handled it better than some schools. I’m really glad that EMU figured things out, no matter how bad cases got and didn’t send us home, which would’ve been the worst response.” During the peak of cases in early February, EMU ran out of prepared quarantine housing for exposed or sick students. Despite this, EMU maintained protocols and were able to find temporary housing for overflow students. These protocols and regulations have enabled EMU to continue hybrid learning classes and allow students to remain on campus,surrounded by their peers.
However, some things suffered under the new protocols and realities of the pandemic. Namely, Andreas noted losing the cafeteria as a community space. He stated that dorms were not affected to an enormous extent. Rather, “you can still hang out with people from your dorm, but you can’t necessarily hang out with people from other halls as easily without the cafeteria,” said Andreas. This represents just one of the hurdles that EMU has undergone in terms of its community orientation. Tyler Goss, Assistant Director of Student Programs, has worked to keep the campus community alive with almost-daily events. These events are as safe as possible while still allowing students to obtain the full on-campus college experience.
EMU has faced numerous obstacles throughout the past year. However, through administration’s initiative and preventative measures, the university has remained functional and maintained its community standards. Looking to the future, especially potential vaccines, gives hope to students and faculty alike during the coming months.
