As Delta Variant Spreads, Hofstra Works to Balance Normalcy and Precaution
BY: LEO BRINE
(Sept. 24, 2021) — At least 119 people in the Hofstra community have tested positive for COVID-19 within the first month of the fall semester, data from the university shows, as many social distancing protocols on campus continue to relax. In contrast, the entirety of the Spring semester had 253 positive cases, according to the New York Times.
By the end of the first week this semester, at least one professor’s classes was moved temporarily online due to positive cases. History professor Dr. Carolyn Eisenberg shared with her classes in a Sept. 6 email that students in two of her courses had already tested positive for COVID. As a result, Eisenberg got herself tested and was later diagnosed with the virus.
“The result is that for this coming Wednesday class we will have to go on Zoom. I really enjoyed meeting all of you-- and some students I already knew from previous classes -- and would have preferred to meet in person,” she wrote in an email.
Eisenberg resumed teaching her class in-person 10 days later on Sept 15.
Eisenberg’s class cancellation was just the beginning. As the Delta variant spreads, university officials say they’re working to strike a balance between potential risk and attempting to create a more typical semester for students.
“The protocols we have are a reflection of the potential risk,” said university spokesperson Karla Schuster. “They’re put in place with advice from our partners at Northwell Health.”
According to university data, 8,559 students were tested on campus between Aug. 27 and Sept. 24, including surveillance testing which resumed last week.
The university website boasts 99.8% compliance among its staff and student body. Students who weren’t able to be fully inoculated by the semester’s start are tested weekly, Schuster told The Clocktower, who added that only handful of students had their exemption request granted.
In addition to the vaccine mandate, many COVID-19 guidelines are still in place. Hofstra maintains a COVID-19 dashboard despite the fact New York State no longer requires it; students are required to be masked in public, indoor spaces, such as classrooms and dining halls unless eating or drinking; and non-Hofstra guests are not permitted in residence halls.
A recent email from the university also updated and clarified a ban from prior years on student gatherings. “Students may not host or participate in off-campus, indoor student social gatherings of more than 10 people or otherwise in violation of applicable health and safety protocols,” the Sept. 8 announcement from Student Affairs read. “In this regard, the University views the hosts/residents of an off-campus property where an incident takes place to be responsible for that incident in its entirety, including the behavior of their guests, regardless of the hosts’ original intentions for their event.”
“It really is just about keeping our whole community safe because what people do off campus affects people interacting on campus,” Hofstra’s Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Jean Peden Christodoulou told The Clocktower. “Although those state and local guidelines are not in place in the same way, the university is still really interested in making sure we all stay safe and use the best clinical and medical aid guidance that we have.”
