“When we became Smithies, we were promised that there would always be a place for us here, that we would be safe here,” Amelia Windorski ’20, president of Active Minds, read from a petition sent to the Smith community last night. “[Smith’s] plan would put students in unsafe situations and that is unacceptable. As a broad coalition of Smith students, we are requesting an alternative plan to the one proposed by the response team.”
Windorski read the petition today at College Hall, where a group of around forty students staged a sit-in to discuss the college’s handling of the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak on campus. Attending the sit-in were Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Floyd Cheung, Inclusion Education Trainer Toby Davis, Program and Outreach Coordinator Raven Folkes-Witten, Dean of the College and Vice President for Campus Life Susan Etheredge ’77, Dean of Students Julianne Ohotnicky, Provost Michael Thurston and Associate Vice President for College Relations Sam Masinter, who tried to answer students’ questions.
The petition, which Windorski read in its entirety and which, as of 10:30 a.m., received 632 signatures from the Smith community, made four requests: that “the college provide the option for students to reside on campus so long as they don’t leave, and that the college allow students to remain on campus for a more comprehensive range of reasons;” “that the college provide travel funding for students who have safe homes to return to;” “that the college provide a clear plan that ensures the financial security of Work Study students;” and “that the college be transparent in its decision making process going forward.”
“We are together with you on every single point you made,” Dean Etheredge ’77 said after Windorski finished reading the petition. “Julianne [Ohotnicky] and I just left a meeting where we addressed financial issues. We’re trying to move quickly right now, figuring out all these details.”
“These are all things we’re actively working on,” Ohotnicky said. “Not having clarifying information is challenging for us, but much more so for you. We’re actively trying to get the information as fast as we can.”
Cheung invited students to call the office for Inclusion and Equity, whose extension is 2141. “We’re here to advocate for all students, but especially those who are vulnerable,” Cheung said. “Raven Folkes-Witten is our contact person for trans and undocumented students, and Toby Davis is our touchpoint person for low-income students.”
During the sit-in, administrators tried to answer students’ questions but emphasized that administrators were still in meetings to hammer out the details. Students would receive a refund for room and board, administrators said, but weren’t clear about how or when students would receive it. The college also wanted to work with students who depended on work study but didn’t have a detailed plan in place yet. A point administrators did emphasize, however, was that there were no plans to reduce staff on campus, and that all staff, regardless of whether they used it already, would receive sick leave.
“We don’t want anyone to work who isn’t comfortable working,” Masinter said.
When a student asked why Smith couldn’t just have students stay on campus and pledge not to leave, Masinter said that the college wouldn’t be able to protect students if the college held all its students.
“Thinking about this, we start by thinking about what would happen if one person on campus caught the virus,” he said. “So we’d have to quarantine that person and any person who came into contact with them. And we don’t have enough buildings to quarantine students like that if we needed to. Neither does Northampton – the city actually reached out to us to see if we could help in a situation like that there.” Still, Masinter emphasized that students should fill out the form to stay at Smith if they felt as though they couldn’t leave.
“We want everyone to air on the side of asking for help,” he said. When a student asked what would happen if more students applied to remain on campus than the school deemed safe, Julianne Ohotnicky said that the college would work with the students on a “one on one basis.”
Thurston, who came later in the meeting, talked about what he was going to say to faculty today at a 4 p.m. meeting.
“I’m going to say this to faculty later today, but it’s worth saying to you all too,” he said. “You might expect or hope that after March 30 you’ll just be Zooming in to your classes and it’ll be business as usual. I want you to stop thinking that right now. You should think of this spring semester as ending on March 14 and a new one starting on March 30. The material will be different, the way of learning will be different, but we want to preserve the essence of the curriculum as much as possible.”
At the end of the meeting, Windorski ’20 thanked students for coming and administrators for listening. “I’m grateful we could have a respectful community conversation,” Windorski ’20 said.
If anyone has questions, they should email covid19info@smith.edu and check the FAQ, which will be continuously updated. Active Minds is also organizing to get nonperishable goods to students staying on campus. The group’s email is aminds@smith.edu.
So, how will the rebates work in terms of the room and board bill for the spring semester? I assume it will be prorated. Is that correct? Has the school stated how the refunds will be processed and when they’ll be made?