Students, hanging out here in front of Gordon Dining Hall, returned to campus this week under UW-Madison's Smart Restart Plan.
Those living in UW-Madison’s dorms this year know one thing they’ll be doing every two weeks: getting a COVID-19 test. The same requirement is not in place for those who live off-campus, but students are encouraged to get tested.
Students and employees returned to campus this week under the university’s Smart Restart Plan, which spells out the guidelines for resuming activities in a safe manner. In addition to mandatory COVID testing, students must wear masks or face coverings in residence halls and housing spaces and can have only one guest in their room (and that guest must also live on campus).
Despite these efforts to minimize contact and potential contamination, there are still concerns about how people will stay safe and healthy and what will happen if the university has an outbreak and has to shut down.
“When I heard we were going to have a restart, I was pretty excited for it, mostly because I expected at least there to be some sort of handle on the pandemic by now on the part of state and federal government,” says Quinton Heney, a house fellow in Slichter Hall. But her concerns have grown since the pandemic is still not under control.
Sydney Bobb, a house fellow in Ogg, says she is concerned about freshmen “congregating and not wearing a mask and just overall disregard for the pandemic that's going on.” She also worries about germs spreading quickly in the dorms. She says she feels like she is “on call all the time,” to make sure dorm residents are wearing their masks. “I'm a house fellow, even when I'm not working. If I see somebody not wearing a mask, I still feel an obligation to say something.”
UW-Madison and Public Health Madison & Dane County announced Friday afternoon that nine UW-Madison fraternities and sororities with off-campus live-chapter houses were directed to quarantine for at least 14 days because of confirmed cases of COVID among their members. According to a news release, as of Sept. 2, 38 of about 420 members of these nine chapters had tested positive.
"Our goal is to stop any further spread of the virus among our students and the broader community," Jake Baggott, executive director of University Health Services, said in the news release. "We're working closely with county health officials, student leaders, chapter advisors and the housing corporations that own the chapter houses to address this quickly and thoroughly."
Students have to comply with public health restrictions that limit indoor gatherings to 10 people and outdoor gatherings to 25. Students who violate these rules could be fined or disciplined by the university.
All students are required to sign a “Badger Pledge” indicating that they understand their role in preventing the spread of COVID-19. Student organizations will also be held accountable for violations. Dean of Students Christina Olstad emailed students Sept. 2 noting that intentional violation of these COVID-related policies may result in emergency suspension or the revocation of housing contracts.
“I think that residents are very concerned about getting kicked out,” says Bobb. “But at the same time, a lot of residents aren't complying with the guidelines in place. I think that the people who are struggling with following mask policy or just not doing it at all are people that have not been affected by the pandemic in a very real way. Even if it doesn't affect you, even if you get COVID and won’t affect you the same way, it could be a death sentence for somebody else or somebody else's family.”
If a student tests positive, University Health Services and local public health services will contact those who may have come in contact with that student. Students in the dorms who test positive will be offered on-campus housing where they can isolate. Those who live off campus will be instructed to isolate or quarantine on their own.
According to the COVID-19 Dashboard, UW-Madison reported 49 new positive student COVID tests on Sept. 1, 17 of them belonging to dorm residents; 34 positive tests were reported Sept. 2. The numbers have grown since late August, when students started moving into their dorms. And that has some worried.
Says one house fellow, who asked to remain anonymous: “The actions of a few in this could determine the fate of everyone else.”
[Editor's note: This story was updated with information from UW-Madison that nine fraternities and sororities had been ordered to quarantine.]
