Our University’s response to COVID-19 has been commended, I think it should be condemned. Not for the availability of testing. Not for our adherence to the rules. But for the gutting of student life and campus life at large.
This past semester has made it clear; the administration does not have the desire nor the inclination to allow practically any in-person activity. The administration states it is committed to the safety and well-being of our community. While doing so, it has also committed itself against a vibrant student life. This is a false dichotomy.
As a club president, I have been disgusted by the lack of support and desire to fight for in-person events, both from my fellow students, including Student Union, and those in university offices. I have seen how freshmen have become isolated interlopers, unable to integrate into an inhibited student life. “It is so hard to meet people”, “it seems impossible to find friends”, and “it feels like WashU has done everything it can to stop us from socializing” are among some of the things being said among our freshmen class. University policy understands the importance of student groups as well, “learning outside of the classroom through membership in student groups, participation in leadership activities and contributing to the community through service is imperative to the growth and education of our students.” For a campus that struggles with apathy and for a university that struggles with name recognition, abandoning one of the key facets of integration does not seem like the wisest of strategies.
The guidelines surrounding club activity are absurd as well. For in-person events, the University has determined “in accordance with CDC guidelines” that events or meetings between 10 and 25 people must be held outside. Events of more than 25 are to be held virtually. Events of 10 or fewer people may have the privilege of being let indoors. Meetings or events are limited to exactly one hour, a minute more than that is strictly barred. There are a couple caveats, all of this is “pending approval” and “the university is generally discouraging in-person events.” So, let me describe the process of requesting an in-person event: DENIED. With few exceptions, this is the case for practically every student group.
Rather than allowing student groups to be responsible, which we can be, the administration has taken that decision away from us. With social distancing and mask wearing, the only reason student groups would be barred from meeting in person would be that we are not trusted. The administration has determined that we are not to be trusted with ourselves; we are not to be trusted to make the “correct” decisions about our health and the health of others.
In the midst of this slaying of our once vibrant student life, I have also observed hypocrisy of the highest order. Several marches and protests have been organized on our campus, and guess what, each of them had more than 25 people in attendance. I jest, as these events were likely never registered on WUGO, so perhaps I should organize a protest for my club as well. At one march even, they offered refreshments, in direct contravention to the approval guidelines for student group events. I witnessed dozens of students march down Forsyth, all comfortably within six feet of each other. And, in the midst of a COVID-19 spike in our St. Louis region, some students wisely elected to organize a protest over the latest incontrovertible injustice – the loss of Spring break.
This semester has made me less proud to be a WashU Bear. The university has strangled student groups and simultaneously prevented an entire class from integrating properly, all while turning a blind eye to activities that violate the agreement we signed to come to campus. With no signs or apparent desire to allow student life to resume some normal activity, the reasons to follow the rules diminish, and the reasons to disobey increase. Washington University, your student life policy is failing.