by Hailey Sepulvado ‘22

As Covid-19 continued to ravage the country in the late summer, colleges debated the difficult question of whether students should return for the fall semester or have them remain at home. The answer to this question varied, to put it mildly. In addition to the inconsistent responses from universities to rising rates of Covid-19 infections, the students themselves increasingly are being blamed for their behavior. For example, Syracuse University suspended 23 freshmen just days after they arrived on campus after exhibiting “incredibly reckless behavior” for not following Covid-19 guidelines. But is this fair? 

One argument is that the adults in charge at many colleges and universities made the decision to have students back knowing the “college culture” and that the students were set up for failure. However, others argue that college students are young adults who should be able to make responsible decisions in order to stop the spread of the virus.  Mary Alvord, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at George Washington University, says in a USA Today article that it is not fair to blame the students. “We can’t put all the blame on the college students; it’s a shared responsibility, and the adults in charge need to understand developmentally where these students are coming from and their expectations beyond academics,” explained Alvord. Although some college students are blatantly defying Covid-19 guidelines, Addy Miller, a North Carolina State University student, said in a USA Today article, “I think more people are being responsible on campus than the media is portraying,”.   

Another issue that has been challenging for colleges is off-campus gatherings and parties. Even if colleges are doing everything in their power to protect students while on campus, they have little control over off-campus life. Bars, restaurants, and clubs have opened, which college students patronize looking to escape the strict and constricting rules from their college. The New York Times reports that in Iowa City, home to The University of Iowa, “Undergraduates were jamming sidewalks and downtown bars, masks hanging below their chins, never mind the city’s mask mandate.”  The result? The University of Iowa has become a hotspot with 1,972 Covid-19 cases. 

Many college students (mainly sophomores, juniors, and seniors) live in off-campus housing, and some colleges have extended their authority by suspending students for throwing parties. Purdue University suspended 36 students after attending a party, and the University of Connecticut went as far as to evict a large number of students from on-campus housing. These two universities enacted these punishments in response to Purdue’s 646 cases and the University of Connecticut’s 253 cases. As Covid-19 cases continue to rise, colleges will have to decide what difficult decisions to make to protect the students, staff, and the local community.