Mount Holyoke College courtesy of Carmen Mickelson ‘24.
By Tara Monastesse ’25
Staff Writer
Following changes to the spring semester move-in plan, Mount Holyoke students and community members have begun adapting to two weeks of remote learning as well as new COVID-19 quarantine and isolation procedures. On Jan. 13, President Sonya Stephens announced significant changes to the College’s spring semester plan, which included details regarding move-in, remote learning and testing requirements. This email was sent 11 days prior to the start of classes.
Stephens’ letter also announced a dedication to return to in-person learning.
“Mount Holyoke remains committed to an in-person teaching and learning experience for our students, but the global surge of the omicron variant requires us to make several critical short-term changes to our previous plans,” Stephens wrote. “The logistics of creating a safe return and start to the semester are, as you might imagine, very complex, given the constraints of congregate housing and other campus spaces, and the impact of the virus on staffing levels at the College.”
Several of the guidelines presented in this letter were previously outlined to students in an email from the Division of Student Life on Dec. 22, including the requirement for eligible students to receive a booster vaccine and show proof of a negative PCR test prior to returning to campus. In approaching these logistics, the College significantly overhauled several aspects of the COVID-19 protocol that was instated during the fall semester.
Previously, students who tested positive for COVID-19 were expected to isolate themselves in isolation housing designated by the College, regardless of whether or not they had roommates. A letter to the community issued by the COVID-19 Health and Safety Committee on Jan. 20th stipulated that if a student who lives in a single dorm tests positive, they will be asked to isolate themselves within their own room. In an attempt to reduce transmission from positive-testing students in residence halls, the College provided schedules that divide the day into times when COVID-19-positive students can use communal bathrooms and times when students who do not have the virus may continue to use the bathrooms as usual.
Additionally, a booster clinic was held on campus for students who still required a third dose of the vaccine. Though initially scheduled for Jan. 29, the clinic was held on Jan. 30 due to inclement weather.
“These changes were made to manage the surge in cases resulting from the presence of the Omicron variant in our community, and to ensure the availability of dedicated isolation and quarantine space for those in our community who are most vulnerable and most ill,” Marcella Runell Hall, vice president for Student Life and dean of students, said in an email to Mount Holyoke News. “Because some residence hall floors do not have a single-user bathroom, students isolating in place are able to use the common bathrooms and have been assigned designated times for unmasked personal hygiene activities.”
These changes came in the wake of a significant spike in positive COVID-19 tests on campus in early January. According to the College’s online COVID-19 Dashboard, the week of Jan. 3-9 saw a total of 41 positive cases — the highest weekly count since tracking began on Aug. 12, 2020. Since then, the number of cases has declined each week, but still remains higher than before 2022. The week of Jan. 24 saw 16 positive cases. Prior to this month, the highest number was nine.
“Should student cases continue to decline and reports of lower short-term severity in campus cases remain steady, we anticipate adjusting our isolation protocols accordingly by, for example, moving confirmed positive cases to dedicated space,” Hall said. “However, the reality is we may need to return to these protocols at any point during the semester as we experience or anticipate surges in student cases.”
Mount Holyoke hasn’t been alone in fighting off a major spike. The town of South Hadley reported 193 active cases for the week of Jan. 25, down from 224 the week prior. A temporary mandate instated on Dec. 23 requires that all persons of age 2 and older, regardless of vaccination status, must wear a face covering when entering non-residential indoor spaces open to the public. Meanwhile, the state of Massachusetts reached a peak seven-day average of 23,137.1 confirmed cases on Jan. 8 – the highest number reported in the state so far since March 1, 2020.
On its website, the CDC noted that there is still much unknown about the Omicron variant and the specifics of its behavior, such as how easily it spreads, how it responds to medication and vaccination and the severity of the illness it causes.
“The Omicron variant likely will spread more easily than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and how easily Omicron spreads compared to Delta remains unknown. CDC expects that anyone with Omicron infection can spread the virus to others, even if they are vaccinated or don’t have symptoms,” according to their section entitled “Omicron Variant: What You Need to Know.”
Marie Ozanne, the College’s Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Statistics, is a biostatistician who has done extensive work with infectious disease modeling. Ozanne noted that massive spikes in case numbers for infectious diseases, such as with COVID-19 this winter, are a sign to intervene.
“Imagine a scenario where you’re shifting between different levels of intervention, based on what you're seeing in the numbers,” Ozanne said. “If you’re seeing a big increase in cases, that could mean that you need to do something differently than what you’re doing right now.”
She also stated that the use of higher-quality masks has been shown to be effective in combating the highly-transmissible Omicron variant, and which has been reflected by College policy.
Furthermore, Omicron’s rapid spread may be outpacing the tests meant to track its progress.
“Testing generally is good for at least identifying your cases and isolation with Omicron, but it is spreading so fast that that may be less effective. Not that you shouldn’t know that the cases exist,” Ozanne said. “But in terms of actually preventing spread, it’s tough when a pathogen is being transmitted really quickly to catch everyone before they’ve infected someone else.”
Upon arrival to campus at the start of the semester, students were to report to the testing center with a negative PCR test result, where they would then be tested again and be provided, upon request, with KN95 masks that complied with the College’s mask requirement.
Grace Lee ’25, who stayed with her family in Los Angeles over winter break, said that securing a PCR test in time to return to campus wasn’t possible due to a test shortage in her city.
“In the end, the one PCR result that I could show to health services was one that I took in December,” Lee said. “That’s how long it took me to get my results.”
As for the decision to switch classes to remote learning, Lee prefers the virtual format, which she finds more comfortable and better suited to her schedule. But her reasons for supporting the switch extend beyond just the personal.
“We’re not really sure if there’s going to be another spike anytime soon, so instead of constantly switching back and forth, I would rather we stay continuously through remote learning,” Lee said. “I’ve also seen a lot of students talk about how remote learning is much more accessible option for students with disabilities, both physical and mental, so I thought that was important too.”