College, long a fun and liberating experience for many young adults, has, as The Ron Paul Insitute’s Adam Dick details below, become a dreary and oppressive experience for many students living under the weight of a multitude of restrictions imposed at American college campuses in the name of countering coronavirus.
These restrictions are absurd from the perspective of protecting people’s health given that coronavirus is not particularly dangerous.
This is especially the case for the teen and twenty-something students.
For these relatively young college students, coronavirus generally poses very little risk of death. Further, most such young adults experience zero symptoms to minor sickness from coronavirus infection.
I have written about the draconian restrictions imposed at college campuses in the name of countering coronavirus, with some focus on Duke University, Syracuse University, and the University of Texas and Texas A&M.
These are not handpicked examples of campuses whose college administrators have imposed uniquely harsh rules in the name of countering coronavirus. The problem is present at many college campuses across America, and it is devastating for many students.
Over at The Mass Illusion, Jordan Schachtel has collected testimonials of students who are living in depressing prison-like conditions at college campuses across America…
Southern Methodist University
“Students must wear masks outside dorm rooms, cannot visit another dorm, etc. Threatened with draconian honor code violations if they violate the rules and orientation was declared all virtual at the last minute.
“Yet today, the athletes, with permission of and active participation by the University, were permitted to organize a BLM march through campus.”
University of Tennessee-Martin
“The first two weeks of the semester have been very different. At my university, I have to stay in my dorm. Since my college courses are all online, keep in mind without any tuition deduction, my friends and I have not gotten to leave our dorm to make friends. One way we socialize is opening up our dorm window & talking to people who are walking to their cars or back to their dorms.
“Another thing we have to do is take a daily COVID report, if we do not pass this test, we are not allowed to leave our dorm and will not be allowed to go anywhere at school. As well as a daily COVID report, we can only enter and exit through specific doors. The university has cut off our keys to entering certain ways.
“For example, if we are walking back from the dining hall, we have to walk to the parking lot behind our dorm to enter our building. This can actually be very dangerous if we find ourselves in a situation we need to enter through the front door & can’t because it’s locked. All my classes are online. Though they are all online, I am still required to stay on campus, pay for on campus housing, and buy a meal plan.”
University of South Carolina
“Roommates are terrified of making a mistake regarding masks, distancing and gatherings … the President basically ‘yells’ everyday that this is not sustainable and is threatening to shut it all down … kids are just waiting for the hammer to drop.”
“It’s horrific. After four months of quarantine with no friends, she was desperate to go to campus so we encouraged it. I am sick with worry every day. Not about the virus. About the mental anguish and social isolation they are forcing on our kids.”
Vanderbilt University
“No roommates … all online classes, no in person activities, dining halls closed, libraries closed except under very strict guidance, no visiting another dorm room, 6-ft distance at all times, masks mandatory when not in dorm room, cannot leave the Nashville area, circles drawn on quad area, threats of suspension/expulsion for first offense, security guards posted throughout campus to enforce rules, kids encouraged to report non-compliance, etc.
“After having been on campus for a week, my daughter has not met nor spoken to a single person. She is in her dorm room in front of her computer at almost all times, and the only times she really leaves are when she picks up her to-go meals. This is a very depressing situation.”
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