going back to college. . . in a pandemic

2:44 PM on Friday, August 7th, 2020 (West Lafayette, IN)

Update, 8/13/2020: Purdue is now issuing refunds for boarding passes.

I’m currently waiting on some downloads and things to compile for Project Skippy, which is a DIY flight computer I’m making for some 3D printed model rockets, so I thought I would jot down some notes while I’m waiting on how I feel about my school, Purdue, opening back up this fall.

Simply put: I’m not feeling great. I honestly don’t know where to start. Maybe the beginning is best.

At the beginning, Purdue said that every student would have the option of either being fully online or being in person with a mix of hybrid classes. This was not the case however, because the list of courses that students could take fully online was very short - I myself found that one of my critical math classes was not offered online. Therefore, my option of being fully online was taken away from me. Had all my classes been offered online, I certainly would’ve taken that option.

My second qualm regards the behavior I saw back in West Lafayette during the 4th of July. Students, all over town, were playing beer pong in their yards, throwing parties; the works. I simply don’t trust that there won’t be parties, Greek or non-Greek at Purdue. West Lafayette mandated masks a month or so ago, but you hardly see this law being enforced. While rules may be heavily enforced on campus, you have no control over what students do in their free time, which opens up a lot of people to a lot of risk. I think the scariest thing is how many much smaller schools, like Pomona College in California, have opted to go fully online. Schools whose entire populations are less than the number of people in my single major. If they couldn’t trust that they could be in person with less than 2,000 people, how can Purdue possibly expect to be safe with 80% of its ~32,000 undergrads coming back to campus? In short, I feel like a major outbreak is impossible to avoid. With that many people interacting even at a distance, the odds are not in our favor.

Third, comes the administrations attitude towards the whole thing. Our president has repeatedly cited the fact that younger people are less susceptible as proof that we will be okay if we go back. While younger people are at less of a risk, the science is simply not finished when it comes to the long term effects of COVID. If even one student, professor, or staff member dies, their blood is on the administrations hands. I posit that saving even one life is worth everyone being online for another semester. It’s not ideal, but preventable deaths are certainly a good reason to go online. And, given Purdue’s enormous size, the odds say that it will be more than 1. Not to be morbid, but I think a lot of people don’t realize the seriousness of this situation, or that it could be them.

Finally: the money grab. To be quite honest, it’s kind of evil, the way that Purdue kept on selling boarding passes(our school’s all-access sports ticket). I understand keeping tuition up; at least that one kind of makes sense and is worth it. But promoting and selling tickets for games that either won’t happen or won’t be in-person? To me, it seems despicable.

Trust me, I get it. No one wants to be online. If we wanted to be enrolled at an online university, we would be. I understand that some majors are very dependent on important in-person learning, like labs. It’s not ideal, but it’s the time that we’re in.

My code seems to have compiled and my downloads have finished, so my final note will be this: I love Purdue and everything it is, but in this case I think we’re doing the wrong thing. If we make it to October still in--person, I’ll be pleasantly surprised. Despite my fears, I’m rooting for us to Boiler Up and make it through it in person. I really hope we do.