Despite living under COVID-19’s thumb on campus this fall semester, some current residents said they feel safe under current housing guidelines.
“Of course, as we stop outside our rooms they want us to put masks on,” said Michael Floyd, a sophomore in journalism who lives in Harper Hall in The Quad. “And there’s signs up around saying, ‘it only takes one second to pull on a mask.’”
Alongside that, there’s sanitizing machines up in the halls, and washing one’s hands and the basics are encouraged. Like many aspects of living in a dorm, there are some things that are just the resident’s responsibility, including personal health.
David Elliot, freshman in computer science who lives in Eagle Hall in The Village, said RAs are moderately enforcing these rules.
“They’re not going around hounding us or anything, but if they see it they’ll definitely enforce it,” he said.
Similarly, Floyd said he feels RAs are doing their job but not over-enforcing rules.
“I don’t see RAs going around checking, or dropping reminders in the GroupMe, but that doesn’t mean they’re not enforcing it, I just don’t see it,” Floyd said.
Floyd, who lived in Duncan Hall last year, said although it is very different, adjusting to the new guidelines has been simple for him.
“My mother got COVID in the summer, and it almost took her life,” Floyd said. “Thank God it didn’t, but it almost did. Adjusting has been easy for me cause I knew what I had to do when I got here.”
Floyd takes precautionary measures such as taking his friends’ temperature and giving them hand sanitizer when they come in, bleaching, mopping and spraying Lysol to ensure the safety of himself and his roommate.
Elliot, on the other hand, tested positive for COVID-19 himself during the summer and takes a slightly more relaxed approach.
“My friends, they know they’re not really gonna get it from me,” Elliot said. “I don’t really check my temperature, and my roommate don’t check our friends’ before they come over. I do make sure I clean everything though, but I don’t think there’s that much of a risk.”
Despite this, both students feel safe in their dorms, and Floyd said he feels safer staying on campus than he would in an apartment.
“I feel like, in an apartment, there’s less security,” Floyd said. “People that are in charge here can control more in terms of like partying here, more than they can off campus.”
Floyd said that he wasn’t aware of any large party gatherings in his residence hall. Elliot shared that he heard of specific rules in place for vistiors across campus.
“I’m fairly certain that they only want a certain number of people in your dorm now,” Elliot said. “And, I think there’s a time limit on visitors now, like none after 9 p.m.”
With the measures that they do have in place – wearing a mask even in common areas or just leaving your dorm and the sanitizing stations – Elliot said he feels pretty safe living in the dorm.
“I definitely feel safer here than I would anywhere else, or just walking around campus,” Elliot said.
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