“They have ‘isolation dorms’ for COVID kids, but they are horrid. Guys in hazmat suits come … 2 week isolation, no visitors. Nurse on call but up to 3 hour wait if you need something … kids at school now are not getting tested so they don’t get sentenced to the isolation prisons. ”
Middlebury College
“Students had to sign a health pledge that they had no say in developing. All students are confined to dorm rooms until COVID test comes back negative. No one is allowed off campus until at least September 15. No visitors on campus all year. School has a google form so that people can snitch on non-compliers. Town is terrified of students returning. This is in a county in Vermont that has had 5 cases and the entire state had 55 deaths. They have cancelled all fall athletic competitions. Students are back on campus, but most classes will be remote, with of course a 3% tuition increase. Professors active on reopening committees, so it is not surprising that they are pro lockdown.
Local state senator wrote to [school president] and called college reckless for bringing kids back. They all want to live in a bubble, take the money that the college brings to the community, but have no actual interaction. ”
Southern Methodist University
“Students must wear masks outside dorm rooms, cannot visit another dorm, etc. Threatened with draconian honor code violations if they violate the rules and orientation was declared all virtual at the last minute. Yet today, the athletes, with permission of and active participation by the University, were permitted to organize a BLM march through campus.”
University of Tennessee-Martin
“The first two weeks of the semester have been very different. At my university, I have to stay in my dorm. Since my college courses are all online, keep in mind without any tuition deduction, my friends and I have not gotten to leave our dorm to make friends. One way we socialize is opening up our dorm window & talking to people who are walking to their cars or back to their dorms. Another thing we have to do is take a daily COVID report, if we do not pass this test, we are not allowed to leave our dorm and will not be allowed to go anywhere at school. As well as a daily COVID report, we can only enter and exit through specific doors. The university has cut off our keys to entering certain ways. For example, if we are walking back from the dining hall, we have to walk to the parking lot behind our dorm to enter our building. This can actually be very dangerous if we find ourselves in a situation we need to enter through the front door & can’t because it’s locked. All my classes are online. Though they are all online, I am still required to stay on campus, pay for on campus housing, and buy a meal plan .”
University of South Carolina
“Roommates are terrified of making a mistake regarding masks, distancing and gatherings … the President basically ‘yells’ everyday that this is not sustainable and is threatening to shut it all down … kids are just waiting for the hammer to drop.”
“It’s horrific. After four months of quarantine with no friends, she was desperate to go to campus so we encouraged it. I am sick with worry every day. Not about the virus. About the mental anguish and social isolation they are forcing on our kids.”
Vanderbilt University
“No roommates … all online classes, no in person activities, dining halls closed, libraries closed except under very strict guidance, no visiting another dorm room, 6-ft distance at all times, masks mandatory when not in dorm room, cannot leave the Nashville area, circles drawn on quad area, threats of suspension/expulsion for first offense, security guards posted throughout campus to enforce rules, kids encouraged to report non-compliance , etc.
After having been on campus for a week, my daughter has not met nor spoken to a single person. She is in her dorm room in front of her computer at almost all times, and the only times she really leaves are when she picks up her to-go meals. This is a very depressing situation. ”
College in University of Texas system
“All but made it impossible for Baptist Student Ministries to meet. Their meeting rooms are on campus and have to be cleaned 4 times a day. People have to remain 6 feet apart, mandatory masks at all times, temperature checks as people arrive, and student ID cards have to be swiped for contact tracing.”
Student “wants to fight back but feels helpless, not knowing who may be reporting her actions. Very, very Soviet-like.”
University of Dayton
“They aren’t even letting kids go to class at all … it’s all on Zoom. ”
Arizona State University
“We have one of the most ridiculous systems in the country. You are supposed to submit a daily health check on the ASU app which consists of 2 questions. If by any chance you forget to do that, your college account is put on hold. I am also a student worker … and I have to sit at a desk. There is no one around me for 6ft, yet they make me wear a mask for 6 hours of my shift. They do the same to students who are in a lab and are using the computers. Even when there is no one around you you are supposed to wear a mask. I still don’t know if masks work or not but making students wear them for hours and hours is ridiculous. “
The Ohio State University
Testimonial 1 :
“Interim suspensions if they break any of the “rules“ including attending/participating in on campus or off campus gatherings of more than 10. Last weekend when we moved in our child, off-campus housing, helicopters were buzzing over the houses, there are people basically roaming around and spying on kids to bust them and we knew exactly what they were looking for. Large gatherings. It’s insane. Daily check-in‘s of health prior to being allowed off campus. If you think this generation has anxiety issues before, can you imagine what they have now? I get the common sense stuff but I really wondered what country we were living in with all of this excess surveillance.”
Testimonial 2 :
“In June when housing deposits were due they said ‘in person classes, no masks outside’ no mention of tests. All positive and happy and there’d be football. My daughter …really wanted to go back to college as not being there … in the college environment, isolated at home was causing a lot of depression.. so we let her go. 48 hours before the students move in week was to begin, OSU changed all the rules. It’s a dystopian hell. ”
College in University of Texas system
“Everyday, I hear of some new restriction or rule that students are required to follow. Things have been even more significantly tightened even during this first week of school. Perhaps the most obvious instance is the Housing Department’s obsession with keeping students away from one another. Before the first week of school, Housing sent a decree stating that students were prohibited to have more than one guest in our apartments or dorm rooms at a time. This past Wednesday, three days after the beginning of the semester, a new email: we were now forbidden to have any guests whatsoever. Over the summer, new security cameras have been installed in the hallways of all buildings, aimed at residents’ doors.”
Johns Hopkins University
Testimonial 1:
“1. 6 weeks ago, hybrid. Everyone back but sophomores kicked out of dorms, must rent a house or off campus to make room for freshman in singles. Jrs/Srs usually live off campus.
2. 3 weeks ago reverse course. Campus CLOSED do not come back. Sorry you signed a binding legal lease.
3. Many kids in apt/houses are going back (they ARE paying rent after all), to remote learn.
4. Couple off campus kids test +.
5. Hopkins sends threatening letter…no matter where you are, if you break Hopkins rules with masks, social distancing and being with more than 10 people, you can be expelled.
6. They urge people to rat on each other, and kids start FB page just for ratting.”
Testimonial 2 :
“Just dropped my son (who is an athlete) off at Johns Hopkins. They shut down. Cowards. He lives off campus. His friends at Ohio St team may quit because it’s PRISON! Other places as well. Stay in your room, meals delivered to your dorm only allowed out 3 times. Insanity .”
St Lawrence University
“1 positive case out of 2k tests. Kids limited to ‘family groups’ and no more than four in dorm room. Masks when outside dorm and wrist band indicates you can go outdoors. Very limited social interaction. ”
Louisiana State University (LSU)
“Our son spent his first nights at college alone. No welcome dorm pizza party. No meeting the kids on his floor. He walked campus alone. You can’t eat in the cafeteria so take out food back to your room. Masks required everywhere, in Baton Rouge in August. Outside. I don’t know how the kids aren’t fainting. All classes online. One class is a ‘learn on your own’ and take a test. No instruction. He did manage to do virtual rush and joined a fraternity. He said it was the only way to meet anyone. His roommate did not rush and sleeps all day. The school wants them to report symptoms daily on an app. They have testing pods all over campus and want all the kids to get tested. If you do test positive they force you into a hotel – alone for 14 days. Not allowed out of the room save for one hour a day with a mask on. They turn off their room cards so they can’t escape back to their dorms. We get emails weekly advising us to support our kids getting a test and ;behaving; so they don’t have to close the campus. It’s sick. What are we doing? Why? If LSU does close and send the kids home we won’t go back. Why pay out of state tuition for Zoom? Why are we depriving our kids of their college experiences? I’m just sick about this every day. I hope someone can break thru the COVID fog and be brave. Our kids deserve it.”
Western Carolina University
“Mandatory masking inside and OUTSIDE. Cafeterias are closed with take out food and long line. Families had until Aug 1 to decide whether to send kids and accept a no refund policy if kids were sent home. This meant you were on the hook for all loans and payments even if services were no longer provided. Of course at that time, classes reported as hybrid. Two weeks in, most classes have now switched to online only .”
Miami University of Ohio
“Ordered via an email to quarantine immediately so they could contact trace athletes … Ordered into an abandoned dorm immediately that wasn’t intended to be occupied this year. No supervision or help with moving. No elevators. Not cleaned. Communal bathrooms which makes no sense. didn’t matter if u hadn’t been to parties or around anyone who tested positive. Threatened with class 2 misdemeanor by the sheriff and code of conduct violation aka loss of scholarship if u went home. Most are now finally released. Campus is now testing 3000 students a week once the general student pop returns on 9/17. At any time you can be forced back into quarantine for 14 days due to contract tracing. The students are now not wanting to be around anyone else. They are told to ‘to treat every person as If they are sick’ so they don’t get caught in a contact tracing web so they essentially are being told to not interact with others but were forced to live in double occupancy which now makes them judge everything the roommate does because if your roommate is contact traced you are forced back into jail.”
Virginia Tech
“Only 15 people allowed to gather. Masks required outside their room anywhere..inside or out. All classes are online. Only 1 person can visit room and masks must be worn. Immediate suspension if caught violating. This is inhumane. It’s prison. ”
Syracuse University
“My son goes to Syracuse – entirely dorm room bound and all classes online. As he was coming from out of state he and all other out-of-staters had to arrive two weeks early and they were dorm bound and had food delivered to the rooms. He received this hysterical message sent to the students on August 20th:”