Three dozen COVID-19 cases instill doubts of safe campus return
Thirteen new student residents tested positive after the university conducted free COVID-19 testing the week of Oct. 11. JASMIN SANI, Editor-in-Chief
Thirteen new students living in campus housing tested positive for COVID-19 the week of Oct. 11, after examinations were performed on the entirety of The K Residence Hall and during a three-hour testing window Chapman Grand offered Oct. 15. Chapman has 36 active cases as of Oct 16.
Dave Sundby, the director of Residence Life and First Year Experience, emailed student residents over the weekend to announce that all common areas at Chapman Grand are now closed, and additional Chapman Grand testing appointments are open from Oct. 19 to Oct. 21. He also notified The K residents that they are required to participate in another round of testing by Oct. 21.
“Of more than 150 tests conducted for K residents last week, there were five new positive cases which equates to a testing positivity rate of just over 3%, very similar to the recent Orange County testing numbers,” Sundby wrote in an email to The K residents Oct. 17.
Provost Glenn Pfeiffer told The Panther that the university is still determining the number of students returning to campus for in-person instruction, but estimated around 4,200 live within Orange County. President Daniele Struppa announced in an Oct. 16 email to Chapman students that less than 35% of students will make their way back to campus, and the university will conduct weekly surveillance testing for a rotating 25% of those who regularly access campus facilities.
“I’ve been very much so a part of this process since the beginning, and Chapman has committed fully to a safe return for everybody,” said Jacqueline Deats, the Student Health Center director. “We’re doing the best we can to keep up with the science and … we have additional staffing to conduct testing and contact tracing.”
Additional surveillance testing will be performed on those living in campus housing and participating in sports. Despite these measures, some undergraduate students feel it’s too soon to make a successful return. Ellie Hood, a senior strategic corporate and communication major, said she wants to go back to campus, but the pandemic presents too many risks to safely do so.
"I love my professors; I love the people in my classes; I love group work, but unfortunately, that’s just not the world we’re living in right now,” Hood said. “You’re not going to have students go back to in-person classes and (then have) less cases. If anything, there’s going to be another outbreak, and Chapman should work to be proactive instead of reactive.”
On Oct. 16, Chapman reported 36 active cases of the coronavirus. Graphic by HARRY LADA, Art Director
Professors like Andrea Weber and Jay Kumar are eager to get back to the classroom and interact with their students in a traditional format, but they are weighing their options based on student input. Weber, a School of Communication professor, said only seven out of her 50 students showed interest in returning to campus. As such, she hasn’t yet decided whether she will transfer her virtual senior seminar class to the hybrid model.
“I am dying to be back with my students and … Chapman is doing absolutely everything they can,” Weber said. “I just want to make sure that I’m coming back in a way that makes everyone feel safe and also to be equitable in the delivery of the (course) material.”
Weber shared that while nonverbal cues are harder to read through Zoom and there are more benefits to classroom learning, there are undeniable exposure risks that come with in-person instruction. This sentiment was echoed by Kumar, who teaches 40 students in the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Kumar, the director of Contemplative Practices and Wellbeing, said he’s been analyzing the psychological safety students feel with coming back to campus.
“Less than maybe five (students) were saying they’d come back to campus … so for me, it made better sense to keep the format online – especially with the uncertainty of where things are moving forward,” Kumar said. “I just want to give that sense of certainty to remove any lingering doubt … and (make sure) no one feels threatened that they have to come back to campus.”
No students or faculty members are required to come back to campus, and professors must accommodate those who prefer to stay online.
While the Orange County Health Care Agency provided free testing Oct. 15 to Chapman Grand students, Deats said The K testing was performed internally and cost the Student Health Center about $6,400. Two of the six individuals in The K confirmed Oct. 12 to have COVID-19 have since recovered, and students who have tested positive are instructed to stay isolated for at least 10 days. After Thanksgiving, those who want to return to the classroom will need to take another COVID-19 test.
Deats encourages students to not only self-report, but to also inform the university of others who display COVID-19 symptoms. Out of the students who have fallen ill to the coronavirus, she said most recovered quickly while being monitored by staff.
“There’s been lots of challenges, for sure. We are trying to take it one day at a time and do the best we can and make intentional decisions and watch the science,” Deats said. “But it’s been kind of amazing to see just how much people have pulled together to support one another, and the students have been very pleasant.”
Update Oct. 20, 3:38 p.m. PT: Sixteen out of the nearly 900 students living in campus housing have tested positive for COVID-19, according to an Oct. 20 email announcement from President Daniele Struppa. Thirteen students at the Chapman Grand apartment complex currently have the coronavirus, and a COVID-19 town hall with Chapman staff and administration will take place Oct. 28 at 12 p.m. PDT.