The Colgate Maroon-News The Oldest College Weekly in America
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Presidential Election and the Working Class B-2
Volume CLIV, Issue IX
NASC Colloquium: Scientific Journalist Brannen C-2
November 6, 2020
Preparing for Virtual Dance Fest D-1
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Administration Updates Plans for Spring Return By Maggie Aulman Maroon-News Staff
The University released its updated plans for a return to campus for the Spring 2021 semester, which includes a continuation of options for students to return to campus or to study remotely. Similarly to the Fall 2020 semester, this plan, released on Friday, Oct. 22, includes a universal quarantine and gradual reopening. However, there are many changes made by both the Task Force on the Reopening of the Colgate Campus and the Task Force on Remote Learning in an effort to address some of the issues faced during the Fall 2020 semester. From the Task Force on the Reopening of the Colgate Campus, changes include modifications to the Universal Quarantine including students’ ability to pick up meals and retrieve packages, exploration of new testing that will increase the percentage of community members tested and midweek mini breaks to address student mental and physical health. From the Task Force on Remote Learning, changes include addressing Zoom accessibility with a new software, an expansion of the Classroom Technology Partners Program to increase faculty technology support, increased attention to inequitable access to technology.
President Brian Casey presented these concrete changes in an email to the community on Friday, Oct. 30, along with further possible changes that both task force’s will consider in the coming months. Major possible adjustments include a return to competition for Division 1 athletic teams, possible expansion of hours of Trudy Fitness Center and Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology, and adding new locations for student organizations and clubs to meet. “We look forward to summarizing the semester once it is concluded but wanted to provide this update now so you knew about its work as it relates to the spring semester 2021,” Casey wrote in the email. Associate Professor of Biology and co-chair of the Task Force on the Reopening of the Colgate Campus Geoffrey Holm explained that the Spring 2021 semester will have a different set of challenges as compared to the Fall. He explains that he believes the first thing on everyone’s mind will be the change in weather. “It will necessitate more indoor time, which poses greater risk for transmission,” Holm said. “In some ways, though, the weather is actually working with us, because it should be improving as we proceed into Gates that allow for greater student interaction and [allow] for more outside activity, in ways
LOOKING AHEAD: University announces revised plans for campus operations for the Spring Semester that takes into account both the successes and shortcomings of the Fall reopening. Colgate University
that the weather is working against us now. Nevertheless, Central New York winters are long, so we will have to be very careful with the amount of indoor interactions that need to occur next semester.” Casey explained that the initial quarantine dictated how the Fall 2020 semester proceeded, and will be crucial for a successful Spring 2021 semester. However, some modifications will be necessary. “I do think there needs to be modifications, particularly around
food. Two reasons: the logistics of delivering food and second, the food waste. That was not terrific, so the idea that people can go [and] regionally pick up food that makes sense for themselves… It really would have to be, you can grab and go,” Casey said. “I want a lot less packaging; the single-use plastics is something we have to avoid… It’s the intersection between safety, delivering food that no one’s touched and the environment. The idea that health and the environment are now in conflict with
each other is very painful to all of us. It’s awful.” During the initial quarantine upon arrival to campus, students will be able to pick up food from the dining halls, retrieve their own packages, have longer outdoor periods and exercise in select indoor locations to accommodate for the winter weather. Holm also explained that the Task Force is currently evaluating additional options for testing strategies in the spring. Continued on A-2
Campus Organizations Unite to Host ‘March to the Polls’ By Josie Rozzelle and Anya Steinmetz Assistant News Editor and Maroon-News Staff
POLL PARTICIPATION: Campus organizations join together for a non-partisain March to the Polls to spur voter participation among eligible members of the student body. Alexa Davis
Sponsored by a broad coalition of campus organizations, the Election Days’ March to the Polls encouraged Colgate students, faculty and staff to engage in the historic presidential election by marching to cast their ballots in the Village of Hamilton. Organized by the Colgate College Democrats and co-sponsored by the Colgate College Republicans, Mabel Dart Colgrove Commons, Students for Environmental Action and the Colgate Vote Project, the March to the Polls began at 9 a.m on Election Day, Tuesday Nov. 3. The march took place at 9 a.m., 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. when students walked from the O’Connor Campus Center to the Hamilton Public Library—the local polling site — to cast their ballots.
Attendants included representatives from the sponsoring organizations along with other students registered to vote in Hamilton to cast their ballots at the Hamilton Public Library. The event was started in 2018 by the then-senior class and the Colgate College Democrats, according to College Democrats President junior Reed Cleland. Cleland reflected on the inaugural march in 2018, calling it the most direct form of organizing he had ever witnessed on campus. “It was I think a step forward in that more active approach to politics, which I really liked,” Cleland said. “The goal was to make it become a tradition, and even though we are in a pandemic year, we’ve found a way to make it work successfully. I’m really excited that it’s going to happen regardless of all of the challenges that we’ve faced.” Cleland, who noted that the number of students registered to vote in Hamilton this year exceeded previous registration levels, emphasized
civic engagement as a primary goal of the march. “We’ve seen on the campus probably the largest political participation that we’ve ever seen. We have 233 students who are registered to vote in the Village of Hamilton, according to the Board of Elections,” Cleland said. “That is very impressive, up from where it was in 2018 which of course was a midterm year. The goal is to get all 233 of those students to successfully cast their ballot and through our methods and through advertising. We hope that that’s what we’re going to do.” Junior Emma Darcy, President of the Colgate College Republicans, co-sponsors of the march for the first time this year, echoed Cleland’s desire to promote voter turnout and participation in democracy. Continued on A-5