鈥楢 shelter in the time of storm鈥�: When on campus is safer than online
When the coronavirus pandemic shut down colleges nationwide in the spring, Fabeina Riggins returned home to her three younger siblings, three dogs and a cat 鈥� and lots of distractions. The walls of her California home were thin, and the house would echo with the sound of multiple Zoom calls.
So when her institution, Benedict College, offered students the option of returning to campus this fall, Ms. Riggins jumped at it.
鈥淚 knew I needed to come to campus,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 just needed to separate myself.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
What criteria should be used for opening a college campus during a pandemic? For some schools that serve students of color, the decision included weighing where their students would be more safe.
Ms. Riggins, a sophomore, is one 678 students now living on the Columbia, South Carolina, campus 鈥� a third of the usual number.
Roslyn Artis, president of Benedict, a historically Black college, is acutely aware of the health challenges of reopening during a pandemic. She has implemented precautions to protect staff and students in recent weeks, spending tens of thousands of dollars to do so.
But as Dr. Artis sees it, there would be risks in remaining fully remote, too. Many of her students come from multi-generational homes, where they have to compete for access to computers and broadband. Twelve percent live in rural areas with no internet at all.
Home isn鈥檛 always the safest place, either. Some students come from dangerous neighborhoods; others live in cramped apartments with family members who work in high-risk jobs.
As college leaders continue to debate whether it鈥檚 safe to reopen campuses, the presidents of many of the nation鈥檚 minority-serving institutions are arguing that it would be dangerous not to. Two-thirds of the private historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, that are members of the United Negro College Fund 鈥� including Benedict 鈥� have settled on a hybrid approach for the fall, offering both in-person and remote options.
鈥淭hey know they provide a refuge for students,鈥� says Brian Bridges, vice president of research and member engagement for UNCF.
鈥淲here would I go?鈥�
In conducted by UNCF in June, more than 80% of students at member colleges said they preferred either in-person classes or a mix of in-person and online. Nearly a quarter said they were unlikely to return if courses were entirely online.
Mikal Conner, a senior at Benedict College, says he returned to campus because he doesn鈥檛 learn as well online. As the first in his family to attend college, he wants to finish his final year strong.
鈥淢y grandma is very spiritual, and she鈥檚 praying to God that I graduate,鈥� he says.
Mr. Conner worried that if he had remained at home, learning online and interacting in the community,听his mother and grandmother might have been at risk because they have underlying health conditions. 鈥淚f I were to catch it, where would I go?鈥� he wonders.
Communities of color have been hit disproportionately hard by the pandemic, with Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans becoming infected at a rate more than twice that of white Americans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.听 听 听听
They鈥檙e also more likely to have lost jobs during the pandemic,听in part because they are less likely to have a college degree,听听by Georgetown University鈥檚 Center on Education and the Workforce shows. In April, when unemployment rates peaked, close to 20 percent of Americans with a high school diploma or less were out of work, compared to 9 percent with a bachelor鈥檚 degree or higher.
These statistics underscore how critical it will be to keep students enrolled through the pandemic, Mr. Bridges says.
鈥淪tudents need these degrees to break the cycle of poverty that exists in so many of their families,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to lose a generation of Black college students.鈥�
A safe space 鈥� with rules
For low-income students of all races, college is often more than a place to study and socialize. As Cynthia Warrick, president of Stillman College, a small Tuscaloosa,听Alabama, HBCU puts it, 鈥淭his is where they get their internet. This is where they get their food. This is where they get their safe housing.鈥�
After campuses closed last spring, rates of hunger and homelessness among college students spiked, a by the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice showed. Benedict gave food subsidies to 250 students, and housing subsidies to 90.
But for students of color living with the twin threats of racism and a pandemic, minority-serving institutions like Benedict play an additional role: They are a safe space, 鈥渁 shelter in the time of storm,鈥� to quote Mr. Bridges and the biblical hymn.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an affirmative place to be, a safe place to be, a place that wants you to be there 鈥� so long as you鈥檙e following the rules,鈥� says Cynthia Teniente-Matson, president of Texas A&M-San Antonio, a Hispanic-Serving Institution.
At Benedict, the list of rules this year is long 鈥� and strictly enforced. Curfew is midnight, and students must pass through a security gate when returning to campus. Masks and social distancing are mandatory. Students have been put on notice that they will be 鈥渆xcised from the community鈥� if they break the rules, Dr. Artis says. She鈥檚 already dismissed a couple who 鈥渢hought their relationship absolved them of the community standard.鈥�
She has also capitalized on the sense of shared responsibility that small colleges cultivate. She鈥檚 asked students to hold each other accountable, and to protect one another and their professors.听So far, four students have tested positive in the first four weeks of the semester.
Benedict, like many small, private colleges 鈥� and HBCUs in particular 鈥� was struggling financially even before the pandemic hit. This semester, its enrollment fell 12 percent, costing the college $2.4 million in tuition revenue. Combined with $1.8 million in lost housing revenue from the dropouts and the students studying online, the college faced a $4-million budget hole heading into the school year. Dr. Artis is worried that she鈥檒l lose even more students this spring if her campus doesn鈥檛 reopen fully.
But she bristles at the suggestion that colleges like hers 鈥渁re only open because they鈥檙e concerned about the money.鈥� With most overhead costs fixed, 鈥淚鈥檓 losing money every day,鈥� she says.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 criticize anyone for being closed,鈥� she adds, acknowledging that her approach to containment might not work at a large college with a porous perimeter.听鈥淭hese are decisions unique to campuses and the demographics they serve.鈥�
A month into its reopening, Benedict looks and feels different than it did last fall, Dr. Artis says. Pathways are unidirectional, and purple and gold dots 鈥� the school鈥檚 colors 鈥� are on the ground marking off six-foot increments. The food court is grab-and-go, and the cafeterias are monitored by repurposed coaches. In the classroom, students sit six feet apart, separated from their professors by plexiglass barriers.
To Ms. Riggins, who came to campus to escape her noisy, chaotic home, it鈥檚 almost too quiet.
鈥淚 miss how it was, everybody being on campus,鈥� she says.听Still, with so many of her friends stuck studying at home, she adds, 鈥淚鈥檓 grateful to be back.鈥澨�
