ESPOSITO: We need as many in-person courses as possible
Column: Unapologetically
"Members of the Rutgers Community: We write to share news of our plans to welcome back all members of our community to our campuses this fall. The anticipated additional availability of the (coronavirus disease) COVID-19 vaccine is enabling Rutgers to take steps to protect the health of our academic community and to move toward a full return to our pre-pandemic normal as a vibrant institution in fall 2021.”
On March 25, Rutgers President Jonathon Holloway opened a student-wide email with these words. I not only speak for myself, but also confidently for almost the entirety of the student body when I say that reading the words “move toward a full return to our pre-pandemic normal as a vibrant institution in fall 2021” was like being thrown a floatation device in a sea of panic and uncertainty.
Thirteen months ago, thousands of Rutgers students had a span of three days to pack up and move out of the campus that we call home. We were promised a swift return in three weeks' time, but we are all aware that due to a pandemic well out of this University's control, that time never came.
It has been 13 months and the vast majority of us spent the entirety of our days locked away in our rooms, burning our eyes, staring at our computer screens to attend the pale comparison of what our vibrant classes once looked like.
Thirteen months ago, no one could have predicted the situation we would be in today. A situation where not one, but two years of graduations would be online. A situation where educationally prosperous discussions in a classroom became asynchronous chat rooms.
A situation where many lost their love of education, many experienced a decline of mental health and many were thrown into the real world of post-graduation with a large lack of valuable life skills that can only be gained through in-person instruction.
All of these things were out of our control. This virus wreaked havoc on every aspect of all of our lives. Who could blame Rutgers, who had contributed so much to battling COVID-19, for its extra-precautionary measures of an almost fully online approach for more than a year?
So, when Holloway announced our return to a fully pre-pandemic normal, a light at the tunnel began to emerge. Shortly after that, he made history by declaring Rutgers the first in the country to require the COVID-19 vaccine for the Fall 2021 semester.
This was picked up by national news outlets and was a controversial choice to many. That said, Holloway’s promise that this will ensure a safe in-person experience in the fall made it clear that this was in the best interest of students to finally gain their long-lost education back. Notably, faculty vaccinations were not mandatory.
I, among many other Rutgers students, fully supported this vaccine mandate. If this was the step to take for long-awaited campus normalcy, I was fully prepared to partake in it.
I received an email just yesterday that the time to register for fall 2021 classes was nearing. For the first time ever, I excitedly logged on to the Rutgers Web Registration System, so relieved to finally find my classes on the College Avenue campus, and not online.
I was met with brutal shock upon discovering an overwhelming majority of these classes were only offered online. Notably, Rutgers Business School was being offered almost exclusively in person.
I am enrolled in the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers. My classes range from 15 to 30 people. Almost all of them are hands-on, exciting discussion classes. Classes that can only truly be fulfilled in person. And still, after being the first University to mandate a vaccine, I will spend yet another semester behind a computer.
Still, after being promised a step toward “a full pre-pandemic normal” I find myself looking at next semester with little being different. I find it hard to believe, and concerning, that the Rutgers Business School is more capable of holding all in-person classes than my school is. Its lectures of hundreds of people are apparently safer when conducted in person than my small classes of 20 students.
I understand the precautions Rutgers has taken. And up until this point, I have fully supported every single one of them. But now, it is clear what matters to Rutgers and what does not. In a survey by Boston University, half of college students were found to have increasing levels of depression, stress and anxiety due to online classes and the pandemic.
And Rutgers seems to have handpicked who they want to help and who they do not want to help by offering the vast majority of in-person classes to specific majors, like many in the Rutgers Business School.
Every student equally deserves as much of an in-person experience that Rutgers can give them next semester. As an incoming senior, this will be the third year of my college experience that will be taken away from me. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention even deems it safe for vaccinated people to gather in private settings maskless.
So why is it, if an entire student body is required to get vaccinated, can we not all receive the in-person instruction we deserve? Obviously, things cannot go back to the way they were. Masks and social distancing are necessities, as was the decision to vaccinate the student body. But students are ready to comply. For our mental health, our education and our future, we are ready to do anything to return to the campus we all cherish so greatly.
So why does Rutgers only care about some of us and not all? I do not claim to know the answers to these questions or have a solution proposed and ready. But we are angry, upset and feel cheated. Do better, Rutgers. We played our part in this trying time, now play yours.
Laura Esposito is a School of Arts and Sciences junior majoring in journalism and political science. Her column, "Unapologetically," usually runs on alternate Tuesdays.
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