Student Union
US Colleges Struggle to Balance COVID-19 With Classes
Colleges and universities are seeing an increase of cases of COVID-19 as students return to campus, with some seeing rapid increases while others are keeping a lid on the spread of disease.
Four sources are compiling information about colleges and COVID-19, including case-tracking maps: The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Davidson College’s College Crisis Initiative (C2i), and Inside Higher Education.
So far, there is no unified national coordinated plan from higher education on how to handle the spread of the coronavirus on university campuses across the United States, say experts, including Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), and Frederick M. Lawrence, former president of Brandeis University and CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, in separate interviews with VOA.
Tracking COVID-19
In early August, before the fall semester started at many schools, nearly half (48%) of more than 1,275 colleges and universities planned for an in-person semester, while 35% proposed a hybrid model and 14% online, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, which has been tracking colleges since spring 2020.
But as of October 1, only 4% of nearly 3,000 institutions were “fully in person” for the fall semester, 23% reported a “primarily in person” teaching situation, and 21% offered a hybrid of in-person and online courses for students. Thirty-four percent were “primarily online” with 10% fully online. Eight percent remained undecided or “other,” according to data from the Chronicle and Davidson.
Some of those closures came after students returned to campus or nearby, and COVID-19 cases spiked. James Madison University in Virginia halted in-person classes completely, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison saw an increase in cases that forced the school to enter a two-week lockdown.
State University of New York-Cortland, with 6,800 students, converted to all online classes October 6 after a spike in cases. At SUNY-Oneonta, nearly 700 students tested positive for COVID-19, and the university moved to online-only classes for the rest of the semester. SUNY-Oswego returned to in-person learning on October 5 after a two-week closure begun when more than 100 cases were confirmed on campus.
Most U.S. colleges and universities are not conducting widespread coronavirus tests despite the rise of cases on campuses, according to an NPR analysis.
Data of more than 1,400 colleges compiled by the College Crisis Initiative at Davidson and analyzed by NPR show that more than 2 in 3 colleges with in-person classes have no testing plan or are doing limited testing for only students at risk.
Universities with high numbers of COVID-19 cases and “no clear plan” include Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (29,300 undergraduate students enrolled), Troy University (12,995 undergraduate students enrolled) and Southeast Missouri State University (9,524 undergraduate students enrolled).
The University of Alabama has the highest average number of daily cases with 82.6 per 100,000 in the county containing the college. The university is conducting random surveillance testing, according to its website.
Student reactions
Despite measures to keep schools safe, many students and staff raised concerns before campuses reopened.
“So you’re telling me that we can't control the spread of covid between 42 people on campus during orientation, but we’re going to bring 20,000+ students to that same space in 3 weeks?? I want to be back @MissouriState. But we need more than a vague plan to get us there,” tweeted Jasmine Crawford from Missouri State University.
“Friday night in State College, PA. @GovernorTomWolf we need another lockdown. @pennstate you may be able to enforce social distancing on campus, but students in State College = students in bars. Take that into account,” tweeted Sage McKeand, an undergraduate student at Penn State University.
In June, more than half of 7,234 Purdue University faculty and staff reported they “felt unsafe about returning to campus for a fall semester with in-person classes,” according to The Indianapolis Star.
Over 90% said they were “not confident students would ‘socially distance appropriately outside the classroom (e.g., on weekends, at bars and parties).’ ”
Sherry Pagoto, a clinical psychologist at the University of Connecticut, surveyed college students about returning to campus in July, and found that the students that responded to their survey agreed that the required 14-day quarantine before the semester started was “not realistic” and “will likely fail.”
Pagoto and research assistant Laurie Groshon interviewed seven focus groups of four to seven students each.
Students said they were “pessimistic” about wearing masks during social events, although they said it would depend on the “social norms” of groups and stated they were unsure about how to hold one another accountable.
Students also stated that the threshold for closing campuses should be “based on several weeks of increasing cases on campus and should not wait until someone dies.”
The status quo
The University of Alabama (UA) and the University of Georgia (UGA) have the most cases, according to a New York Times case tracker. As of September 25, 2,690 confirmed cases had been reported at UA and 3,532 confirmed cases had been reported at UGA.
Some students say their universities have not been careful with containing cases.
At UGA, Max Appelbaum, a fourth-year atmospheric sciences major from Trion, Georgia, lives in off-campus housing with two roommates. He is taking two online classes and two in-person classes.
Appelbaum said in a message to VOA that he was “disgusted” and that it was “incredibly irresponsible to come back to campus at all.”
“Basically, the administration isn't listening to its own researchers who are studying coronavirus and are telling them that their plan is inadequate and that it was not safe to reopen campus,” he messaged VOA.
Greg Trevor, executive director for marketing and communications at UGA, disagreed.
Trevor said the university consulted many health experts before deciding to resume in-person classes. The health experts included a medical oversight task force, composed of the dean of the College of Public Health, the executive director of the University Health Center and the campus dean of the Augusta University/UGA Medical Partnership.
"From the outset of the pandemic, the University of Georgia’s primary commitment has been to the health and safety of our faculty, staff and students. We worked diligently — with the engagement of faculty health and medical experts — to prepare our campus for the resumption of in-person instruction this fall in a manner consistent with federal and state health and safety guidelines,” he wrote in an email to VOA.
Other large universities have had a relatively small number of coronavirus cases.
California State University-Fullerton (CSUF) has had three cases among its 35,169 undergraduate students.
CSUF laid out a six-step plan for readmitting students to campus and ensuring the safety of faculty and students. The plan is now in its third phase, according to its coronavirus website.
“For those who will be on campus in the fall, it will be each person’s responsibility to adhere to all safety protocols to reduce the risk of infection among our campus community members and their families. This includes using face masks, practicing good hygiene and maintaining social distance,” it wrote.
If anyone is exposed or comes in contact with someone exposed, this person “must remain off campus, self-quarantine, and follow all applicable public health orders,” it continued.
Crucial practices
The University of Wisconsin-Superior has had only one case of coronavirus out of its 2,259 undergraduate students and, according to Jordan Milan, director of strategic communications and special assistant to the chancellor, this case was not linked to the 54% of classes that are on campus.
“We recognize that the success of this model is dependent on our on-campus community engaging in social distancing, wearing a mask and keeping hands sanitized. We have reminders of these practices posted throughout campus,” she wrote in an email to VOA.
In addition to signs about social distancing and wearing masks on campus, there are three different flow charts of procedures that students should follow if they contract coronavirus living on campus, off campus or in a distance-learning environment.
As Milan mentioned, the spread of coronavirus on campuses depends on student behavior and whether they obey social distancing guidelines and other policies laid out by their universities.
Appelbaum noted that if he saw students disobeying rules UGA laid out, he would ask people to put their masks on and observe social distancing. “I just want to be as safe as I can be in a bad situation,” he said.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly included Michigan Technological University among institutions that do not have a clear plan to deal with the coronavirus.
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College athletes push for voter turnout while largely avoiding controversy as election nears
Lily Meskers faced an unexpected choice in the lead-up to the first major election she can vote in.
The 19-year-old University of Montana sprinter was among college athletes in the state who received an inquiry from Montana Together asking if she was interested in a name, image and likeness deal to support Sen. Jon Tester, a three-term Democrat seeking re-election. The group, which is not affiliated with the Tester campaign, offered from $400 to $2,400 to athletes willing to produce video endorsements.
Meskers, who is from Colorado but registered to vote in Montana, decided against the deal because she disagrees with Tester's votes on legislation involving transgender athletes in sports.
"I was like, OK, I believe that this is a political move to try to gain back some voters that he might have lost," Meskers said. "And me being a female student-athlete myself, I was not going to give my endorsement to someone who I felt didn't have the same support for me."
Professional athletes such as LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick and Stephen Curry have taken high-profile stances on hot-button topics and political campaigns in recent years, but college athletes are far less outspoken — even if money is available, according to experts in the NIL field. Being outwardly political can reflect on their school or endanger potential endorsement deals from brands that don't want controversy. It can certainly establish a public image for an athlete — for better or for worse — or lead to tensions with teammates and coaches who might not feel the same way.
There are examples of political activism by college athletes: A Texas Tech kicker revealed his support for former President Donald Trump on a shirt under his uniform at a game last week and a handful of Nebraska athletes a few days ago teamed up in a campaign ad against an abortion measure on the Tuesday's ballot.
Still, such steps are considered rare.
"It can be viewed as risky and there may be people telling them just don't even take that chance because they haven't made it yet," said Lauren Walsh, who started a sports branding agency 15 years ago. She said there is often too much to lose for themselves, their handlers and in some cases, their families.
"And these individuals still have to figure out what they're going to do with the rest of their lives, even those that do end up getting drafted," she added.
College coaches are not always as reticent. Auburn men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has used social media to make it clear he does not support Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic opponent in next week's presidential election. Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy once caused a stir with a star player for wearing a shirt promoting a far-right news outlet.
Blake Lawrence, co-founder of the NIL platform Opendorse, noted that this is the first presidential election in the NIL era, which began in July 2021. He said athletes are flocking to opportunities to help increase voter turnout in the 18-to-24 age demographic, adding that one of his company's partners has had 86 athletes post social media messages encouraging turnout through the first half of the week.
He said athletes are shying away from endorsing specific candidates or causes that are considered partisan.
"Student-athletes are, for the most part, still developing their confidence in endorsing any type of product or service," he said. "So if they are hesitant to put their weight behind supporting a local restaurant or an e-commerce product, then they are certainly going to be hesitant to use their social channels in a political way."
Giving athletes a voice
Many college athletes have opted to focus on drumming up turnout in a non-partisan manner or simply using their platforms to take stands that are not directly political in nature. Some of those efforts can be found in battleground states.
A progressive group called NextGen America said it had signed players in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia to encourage voting among young people. Another organization, The Team, said it prepped 27 college athletes in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona and Michigan to lead volunteer voter participation opportunities for students. The organization also said it got more than 625 coaches to sign a nonpartisan pledge to get their athletes registered to vote.
The Team's executive director is Joe Kennedy, a former coach who coordinated championship visits and other sporting events at the White House during President Barack Obama's administration. In early October, it hosted a Zoom event during which panelists such as NCAA President Charlie Baker and WNBA players Nneka Ogwumike and Natasha Cloud gave college athletes advice about using their platforms on campus.
In its early days, The Team seized upon momentum from the record turnout seen in the 2020 election. The NCAA that year said Division I athletes could have Election Day off from practice and play to vote. Lisa Kay Solomon, founder of the All Vote No Play campaign, said even if the athletes don't immediately take stands on controversial issues, it's important for them to learn how.
"It is a lot to ask our young people to feel capable and confident on skills they've never had a chance to practice," Solomon said. "We have to model what it means to practice taking risks, practice standing up for yourself, practice pausing to think about what are the values that you care about — not what social media is feeding into your brain, but what do you care about and how do you express that? And how do you do it in a way that honors the kind of future that you want to be a part of?"
Shut up and play?
Two years ago, Tennessee-Martin quarterback Dresser Winn said he would support a candidate in a local district attorney general race in what experts said was very likely the first political NIL deal by a college athlete.
There have been very few since.
The public criticism and fallout for athletes who speak out on politics or social issue can be sharp. Kaepernick, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, hasn't played in an NFL game since January 2017, not long after he began kneeling during the national anthem at games.
Meskers, the Montana sprinter, said political endorsements through NIL deals could create problems for athletes and their schools.
"I just think that NIL is going to run into a lot of trouble and a lot of struggles if they continue to let athletes do political endorsements," she said. "I just think it's messy. But I stand by NIL as a whole. I think it's really hard as a student athlete to create a financial income and support yourself."
Walsh said it's easier for wealthy and veteran stars like James and Ogwumike to take stands. James, the Los Angeles Lakers star, started More Than a Vote — an organization with a mission to "educate, energize and protect Black voters" — in 2020. He has passed the leadership to Ogwumike, who just finished her 13th year in the WNBA and also is the president of the Women's National Basketball Players Association. More than a Vote is focused on women's rights and reproductive freedom this year.
"They have very established brands," Walsh said. "They know who they are and they know what their political stance is. They know that they have a really strong following that -- there's always going to be haters, but they're also always going to have that strong following of people who listen to everything that they have to say."
Andra Gillespie, an associate professor at Emory University who teaches African American politics, also said it is rare that a college athlete would make a significant impact with a political stand simply because they tend to have a more regional platform than national. Even celebrities like Taylor Swift and Eminem are better at increasing turnout than championing candidates.
"They are certainly very beneficial in helping to drive up turnout among their fans," Gillespie said. "The data is less conclusive about whether or not they're persuasive – are they the ones who are going to persuade you to vote for a particular candidate?"
Athletes as influencers
Still, campaigns know young voters are critical this election cycle, and athletes offer an effective and familiar voice to reach them.
Political and social topics are not often broached, but this week six Nebraska athletes — five softball players and a volleyball player — appeared in an ad paid for by the group Protect Women and Children involving two initiatives about abortion laws on Tuesday's ballot.
The female athletes backed Initiative 434, which would amend the state constitution to prohibit abortions after the first trimester, with exceptions. Star softball player Jordy Bahl said on social media that the athletes were not paid.
A University of Montana spokesperson said two athletes initially agreed to take part in the NIL deal backing Tester. The school said one withdrew and the other declined to be interviewed.
For Meskers, deciding against the offer boiled down to Tester twice voting against proposals to bar federal funds from going to schools that allow transgender athletes to play women's sports, a prominent GOP campaign topic. Tester's campaign said the proposals were amendments to government spending packages, and he didn't want to play a role in derailing them as government shutdowns loomed.
"As a former public school teacher and school board member, Jon Tester believes these decisions should be made at the local level," a Tester spokesperson said. "He has never voted to allow men to compete against women."
Meskers said she believes using influence as college athletes is good and she is in favor of NIL. She just doesn't think the two should mix specifically for supporting candidates.
"I think especially as student athletes, we do have such a big voice and we do have a platform to use," she said. "So I think if you're encouraging people to do their civic duties and get up and go (vote), I think that's a great thing."
