By: Katelyn Norris
It would be an understatement to say this fall semester is unique. Due to the ongoing pandemic, Bellarmine has adapted to hyflex and remote learning. The university is also taking precautions to ensure safety for everyone, and this means quarantining all possible Covid-19 exposed students.
Freshmen Olivia Paris and Gwen Malecke are quarantined in off-campus Bellarmine housing. Paris said she and Malecke were notified and moved into their new residence in under four hours.
“We found out around 8 a.m. and we were in the house around noon or 1,” Paris said.
Malecke said Dean of Students, Dr. Sean McGreevey, was extremely helpful in the process of moving them into their temporary housing. The pair also said McGreevey bought them supplies for their space like paper towels, toilet paper and a Wi-Fi hotspot.
“They made our lives a lot easier, knowing that we were going to be quarantined for so long they definitely made that transition a lot easier,” Melecke said.
“If I had to be quarantined anywhere, I would want to be quarantined at Bellarmine. They have been great through everything,” Paris said
However, not every student quarantining in BU housing has had a great experience. Junior Lydia Summers is one of those students.
Summers is quarantining in the residence halls. Unlike Melecke and Paris, Summers said she was very ill-informed during the early stages of her quarantine process.
“Katie [her roommate] had called me and told me the situation. They [Bellarmine] hadn’t told me and I thought that was weird that they didn’t communicate that with me,” Summers said.
Summers said both she and her roommate were very confused and left out of the line of communication. They contacted McGreevey to better understand their quarantining situation.
Summers said: “That was a breaking point for us and they haven’t told us anything. He told us, that there was problems in the beginning and he should have communicated with us more frequently.”
Despite the lapse in communication, Bellarmine is still providing meals for all its students in quarantine. Paris said Residence Life drops off food three times a day and notifies them when it has arrived.
“It couldn’t have been smoother with this situation,” Paris said.
Summers said Residence Life have offered she and her roommate laundry services as well.
“They’ve been very kind to us. They have brought us our packages and they even brought us our books from the bookstore,” Summers said.
Melecke said the BU community has been very understanding of their situation and professors have reached out. Summers and her roommate have gotten support from everyone on campus.
“They have been kind and considerate of our situation. Not just the staff, but even people we’ve never met,” Summers said.
Bellarmine and its community have provided for its students and took precautions to keep everyone safe.
Summers is happy to almost be done with her quarantine but is glad to have “gotten it over with” early on in the semester. She said she wanted to keep everyone safe but is looking forward to seeing people’s faces again.
Paris is ready to be out of quarantine but is ready to keep people safe. Melecke also expressed this sentiment.
“It’s all about keeping other people safe and we would rather do this than our university close,” Melecke said.