The Washington National Guard occupied Pullman last week to help with COVID-19 testing after college students attending Washington State University returned. Fifteen minutes away, University of Idaho still has in-person classes with no National Guard in sight.
COVID-19 has caused colleges nationwide to rethink their methods of delivering classes. Responses have ranged from complete ignorance of the pandemic to full on lockdown. Despite thorough response tactics, some colleges have seen a COVID-19 case spike, nonetheless.
Attributions to the cause are generalized to off-campus partying, mask mandate neglection or ignorance to the disease. Yet, despite full awareness of how COVID-19 spreads, how it effects the body and how it can be prevented, students in both Pullman and Moscow continue to live the exuberant “college experience.”
Partying on both campuses has prevailed, despite faculty and city regulation. As reported by the Spokesman-Review, WSU fraternities and sororities have continued to host parties. Through personal observation, UI’s party scene has been focused off-campus.
Despite similar party scenes, Whitman County Public Health has reported a total of 1065 cases on Sept. 15 compared to Idaho North Central District reporting 292 total cases in Latah County the same day.
Interestingly, WSU went fully online as early as late July and UI stuck to their HyFlex class design. Something is not adding up here. Or, everything is lining up.
The theory behind WSU’s fully online strategy is simple. No in-person classes results in fewer students on campus, which means less on-campus traffic leading to less COVID-19 transmission. Where did the process go wrong?
I’m not sure what went south in Pullman, but I do know fraternities and sororities continued to party with little regulation from the Interfraternity Council. Students chose to ignore the consequences of participating in COVID-19 safety procedures and it all fell apart.
How has UI avoided the same frustrations, a mere 15 minutes away? Should we reconsider our response? What is the next plan of action?
I do not think UI has developed some sort of miraculous COVID-19 free bubble. I think we are incredibly, incredibly lucky. Now is not the time to become complacent in following the rules, though some of those rules are still actively broken.
It is only a matter of time before the wrong person shows up to the wrong off-campus party, and a COVID-19 cluster breaks loose.
Consider this hypothetical scenario: a WSU or UI student is invited to an off-campus party in Moscow. Undenounced to them, they have had COVID-19 for just about 5 days and they have yet to show symptoms but are within the range of transferability. Students from several Greek houses and dorms attend the party, masks are hardly worn. Those students go home to their houses and dorms with COVID-19, their roommates contract it from them. Those roommates see their friends, they contract COVID-19. And the cycle moves on.
What I find most concerning about this scenario is not the likelihood, but the one missing link. This already happens on campus, every week. Minus one part—the first student with COVID-19. This is how it spread at WSU and it’s probably how the virus will spread at UI.
It’s a matter of time before it happens, the question is when.
Should UI rethink their COVID-19 approach? Or is there anything they can really do? We’re all already here. Moving to fully online classes wouldn’t prevent much, as exhibited from WSU. The fact of the matter is we live in a flamboyant college town. No matter how hard we attempt to stop partying, it won’t happen.
Preventing the spread of the pandemic on campus is most likely impossible. Prevent yourself from contracting it by protecting yourself. And most importantly, continue to be lucky. You’ll probably need it.
Carter Kolpitcke can be reached at [email protected].
Robert Hoffmann
Some items this editorial omits: UI began, and continues, with a strict testing regimen. WSU did not. UI's HyFlex model allows it to require the Healthy Vandal Pledge, which incudes disciplinary action for violations. WSU doesn't seem to have a comparable tool at their disposal. While the UI approach cannot guarantee zero cases and zero spread, initial results have given pause to some skeptics (myself included) who earlier believed WSU to be following the better path. Regulation and moderation, instead of absolutism and prohibition, the model that seems to work better elsewhere in society, appears to be working here. There is time for things to nosedive in Moscow, but I'm cautiously optimistic.