The Academy's COVID Response Needs to Change
By Nhan Phan
I would like to credit Henry Chai-Onn and Dax Knoll for inspiring this article.
Since the start of this school year, the Academy has taken caution in its handling of COVID-19 on campus by imposing restrictions on parts of campus life (such as mandatory mask-wearing, being unable to enter other dorms and being unable to leave campus unsupervised) which, normally, would be mundane. However, at the present moment, over a year has passed since the Coronavirus was declared a pandemic. Students are beginning to become vaccinated. The question arises: as the majority of the student body receives vaccines, should COVID restrictions be eased? Should parts of campus life that seemed so common be allowed again?
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently updated nationwide guidelines, stating that people who have been fully vaccinated can gather with other vaccinated people without wearing masks or social distancing (in a reasonable capacity and avoiding large crowds). With this new update, the Academy has begun taking the next steps in returning campus life to its normalcy by allowing a maximum of two family members to come to campus, allowing them to spectate outdoor athletic events and attend limited Sunday family visits. Other aspects of school life, however, are remaining prohibited or ambiguous. The mask-wearing enforcement, social distancing and frequent testing by the Academy have been extremely well executed; it is effective in curbing infection rates on campus and allows for easier contact tracing should a student or an individual on campus contract the virus. The community has complied well with these seemingly common-sense measures in this pandemic backdrop. However, in regards to campus life, the Academy’s COVID policies regularly contradict one another.
The trends of the Academy’s pandemic policies reflect inconsistencies in the way they want to handle possible COVID exposure on campus. For example, in the latest email sent by Dean of Students Brooks Moriarty, family members (regardless of their vaccination status and testing) will now be able to visit campus. However, as of now, students are not allowed to visit one another’s dorms, even though everyone on campus has continued to abide by the Academy’s weekly testing procedures and COVID policies. Many, including myself, are confused as to why unvaccinated parents are being able to interact with their children without the proper surveillance and observation similar to the student chaperoned town visits.
Allow me to provide extended analysis into one major topic of contention: senior prom. The Class of 2021 has suffered the most damages this past year, undergoing terms where the pandemic has prevented them from doing what seniors would normally do in other school years: having fun, socializing and enjoying one another. The Academy’s faculty has failed to understand the emotional toll this is having on seniors. Looking from a pandemic perspective, the CDC has updated their guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals. In two weeks, the majority of seniors will have had their second vaccine dose, meaning they will be fully vaccinated. Should they be allowed to fully enjoy their final high school prom experience if they are vaccinated against the virus? Such action and reasoning is beyond unjust: it’s inconsistent.
If we consider the context that all participants are fully vaccinated, frequently tested and tightly controlled, seniors should be allowed to fully engage in their prom. However, gatherings of larger sizes are becoming increasingly prevalent as the larger populace becomes safer. The Oscars, for example, took place last weekend. All participants were tested twice, Union Station was fully packed with nominees and staff, and none of them were even wearing masks. There were no emerging cases of COVID-19. The Oscars set a perfect example in hosting an event where all participants are contained in a controlled environment.
The administration has even allowed large gatherings in the past month. Hundreds of students were bundled up on the Academic lawn during the Spirit Assembly; few socially distanced. The Assembly contradicted any possible logic against a prom: they allowed a mass gathering of unvaccinated students. Why shouldn’t seniors be able to have a smaller controlled gathering where everyone is vaccinated, while the Spirit Assembly was allowed to take place? The Academy has left seniors in the dark. It is crucial they effectively communicate with seniors about this issue soon.
The Academy’s COVID policies give the impression that decisions were made on a whim, without careful consideration of the Academy’s past actions and the student responses on campus. We are forced to question the true intention behind decisions and wonder what choices they make are merely for optics. The confusion and doubt the Academy continuously arouses is avoidable. The Academy must alter its policies to dispel any discrepancies, provide transparent reasoning behind actions and elicit sufficient student input in its decisions.
