Say goodbye to sticky floors, keg stands and dubious punch bowls.
While college administrators around the country struggle to keep their students safe in class, there’s one, formative part of college that seems to be out of their hands: parties.
It took just one week after students returned to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before there was an outbreak of 130 coronavirus cases. The cases were traced to four “clusters” — five or more positive people — in UNC dorms and one cluster was centered around an off-campus frat house.
Meanwhile, in that same amount of time, 19% of more than 400 students tested positive for the virus at the University of Notre Dame. At the famed Indiana school, the outbreak was credited to off-campus parties. There were at least two gatherings where social distancing wasn’t practiced and masks weren’t worn, leading to a large group of mostly male seniors who caught the cough.
And despite asking students to pledge not to party, at least 20 students raged until 1 a.m. last weekend during an off-campus bash hosted by Holy Cross students in Worcester, Massachusetts. So far, it’s caused at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 and several more potential positive infections.
For months, anxious students have been cooped up in their parents’ homes, waiting for their chance at freedom — and to go full-on “Animal House” with their long-lost peers. What’s the point of going to college if you can’t get mono after drinking beer from a communal funnel, after all?
But some students have reluctantly hung up their togas: “I’ve accepted the reality of the situation,” Ruby Reimbold, an incoming freshman at Syracuse University, told The Post.
“I was most excited to tailgate and go to games, since it was my favorite part of high school and I’ve heard the ‘Cuse football atmosphere is amazing,” she said. Although football games will be held, fans can not attend.
But now, Reimbold is just nervous about not being able to make friends.
“I think it will be much harder to meet people and join campus organizations since group gatherings are so limited,” she says.
And she and other students are bracing for the possibility of being sent home if they break social-distancing rules. After the outbreak at Notre Dame, classes have been temporarily moved online. Off-campus students were asked to not come to campus, and those who live at school were told not to leave unless there is an emergency.
UNC students also had to head home after coming to campus only two weeks ago. Classes have moved 100-percent online for the semester, and students have the option to cancel their housing without penalty.
At notorious party school Penn State University, a Change.org petition asking for the freshman class to be sent home has garnered more than 4,000 signatures after videos posted to social media showed many newcomers joining a massive crowd and not wearing masks during a campus bash.
In many cases, for what could be the first time, young adults are begging their guardians for restrictions.
“University leadership should have expected students, many of whom are now living on their own for the first time, to be reckless. Reports of parties throughout the weekend come as no surprise,’’ wrote angry college journalists in an editorial for UNC’s campus newspaper, the Daily Tar Heel.
After the outbreak, student gatherings at Notre Dame of any kind are limited to 10 people, although it’s unclear how that will be enforced.
Some schools are already taking extreme measures to limit partying. In an attempt to create a “bubble” similar to that of the NBA, Albion College in Michigan is requiring its attendees to download an app that tracks their location and health data to monitor the spread of the virus, reports Newsweek. Called Aura, the smartphone tracker will alert the school if a student leaves the campus’ 4.5-mile wide perimeter. If they step out, students will face suspension.
At Cornell University, students may be allowed to party — if they sign in first, claimed incoming freshman Ryan Wong, 18.
“It’s a check-in system,” Wong said. “The reason they have people sign-in is for contact tracing just in case someone tests positive.”
The university could not confirm to The Post that the sign-in system is officially in place. However, they have asked all students to agree to a behavioral compact — a set of rules urging them to take precautions to prevent the spread of the virus. On- and off-campus gatherings are limited to 30 people, and students must stay 6 feet apart and wear face masks.
One of the stipulations in the contract includes the agreement “to refrain from organizing, hosting, or attending events, parties, or other social gatherings on- or off-campus that may cause safety risks to me and other members of the community.”
With so much riding on the decision, Wong, who said he doesn’t use substances, is still conflicted as to whether he should party or not.
“You don’t want to get yourself COVID and then have to quarantine for a couple of weeks, or give it to your family when you go back,” he said. Because he’s from the Bay Area of California, he plans to follow New York state’s 14-day quarantine before moving to Cornell’s Ithaca campus.
But after having his senior year of high school cut short, Wong doesn’t have much hope for his first semester.
“At any point, they can just cancel in-person [classes] and we could be sent home,” he says. “It’s kind of expected.”