University took too long to make testing mandatory

St. Joe’s is mishandling testing protocols for COVID-19. Even with mandatory asymptomatic testing in place,  the first week is too late. We will still go online before midterms, and there will be no refunds.

I created a petition demanding that the university make asymptomatic testing mandatory. It has 150 signatures. I sent it to 18 out of 19 members of university leadership. I have received no response.

Testing for first-year residential undergraduates was conducted during the weeks of Aug. 17 and Aug. 24. The estimated wait time for test results is 48 to 72 hours after the company receives the specimen. Therefore, most students didn’t receive their results until after classes began. This means there might have been asymptomatic students who spread the virus during face-to-face, hybrid and hyflex classes. This is unacceptable, and university leadership knows it. Either they feign transparency or simply do not care.

As of Aug. 24, asymptomatic testing was mandatory. Instead of initially making asymptomatic testing mandatory, St. Joe’s administrators relied solely on masks, social distancing and adapted class formats.

The university will neither mention, recognize nor accept accountability for this decision. From the start, the metanarrative is placing blame on us, the students. When we go online, our university will say they did everything they could to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus. They will say students are at fault. They want our money because they are suffering financially, as seen through the tuition hike this semester.

What matters now is confirming cases and contract tracing. As of Aug. 27, the  university reported 11 positive cases of COVID-19. With most undergraduate students taking their tests on Aug. 27 and Aug. 28, they are receiving their results while already on campus.

Our university acted a week too late, and we will face the consequences of their actions.