Many students and I believe that Monmouth University is doing their absolute best to keep students and faculty safe during this pandemic by enforcing mask wearing, social distancing and restricting visitation within the dorms.
Monmouth also provides a testing area where you will be notified within one to two days of your test results. This is very effective so that people know quickly if they have contracted the virus and if they need to begin quarantining. President Leahy has also reinforced new procedures since the spike of COVID-19 cases began.
These procedures include the shutdown of the gym, swimming pool, indoor dining, no more than five people within a group, and all classes are now online for a two-week period. The President also does not want any parents or visitors to come onto campus in fear of spreading the coronavirus further outside the school itself.
After the upcoming fall break, President Leahy plans to inform students, faculty and parents on what the second half of the fall semester will look like, and people have varying speculations on what that may be. The student body’s main concern is that all classes will return to an all-online setting with no more hybrid courses. While many students wish for in-person classes, myself included, students must think of the bigger picture. Online classes may not foster the best learning environment, but it is the best way of preventing spikes in COVID-19 cases.
While the school is trying its hardest to limit the number of cases on and off-campus by creating new guidelines and rules, the school also needs cooperation from the students to not gather in large masses. The primary reason that the spike happened two weeks ago was because of large gatherings with one or two people who had COVID-19 and unknowingly spread it to others.
Many students feel that some of the rules that Monmouth has set in place are unreasonable and should be reconsidered. One of those rules being every time you step foot outside your room you have to wear a mask. Students feel that when they enter their dorms, they should be allowed to take their masks off as if they were entering their house.
Another rule that students want the school to reconsider is the access to lounges in their residence halls. Students wish to hang out with their roommates in the comfort of their own building and not be watched or told that they are doing something wrong. I think the school should allow the opening of the lounges but still enforce social distancing.
We all need to do our part and wear our masks, keep a social distance from others, and get tested if we feel sick or come in contact with someone who has tested positive. To get back to our normal campus operations and have normal classes we must all play it safe and look out for others until the pandemic has passed.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth University
