By Parker Dorsey

News Editor

March 19, 2020

 

The global pandemic of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has upended daily life for many Americans, but especially college seniors. Certain states, such as New York and California, have mandated "stay at home" orders to their citizens in order to limit the spread of the virus.

 

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in fall 2017, the total undergraduate enrollment in degree-granting post-secondary institutions was 16.8 million students in the United States. Also according to the NCES, 2 million students in 2017 were conferred bachelor's degrees in the United States.

 

The "stay at home" orders were put in place due to the virus' high infection rate, which has infected over 335,000 worldwide and killed at least 14,600, according to the Associated Press. On Monday morning, the World Heath Organization said that the United States has confirmed at least 35,164 cases and 472 deaths from the coronavirus. More than 1.5 billion people globally have been told to stay home to blunt the coronavirus spread, in a strategy known as social distancing.

 

According to the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, social distancing is deliberately increasing the physical space between people to avoid spreading illness. When a virus is unable to be safely contained within a specific area, social distancing must be employed in order to limit its spread.

 

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever or coughing. But for some older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and lung damage.

 

The coronavirus has impacted the world on a scale almost unforeseen in light of several cancellations of sports involving students, including but not limited to: the Olympics, March Madness, the Canadian Hockey League playoffs and various other NCAA sports. Per TSN's Bob McKenzie, there won't be a major junior champion for the first time in 102 years.

 

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, there are 644 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state, with at least 10 in Luzerne County. This past weekend, Governor Tom Wolf ordered all non-life-sustaining businesses to shutdown in Pennsylvania.

 

Some schools, such as Kutztown University and Marywood University, have transitioned to online classes for the rest of the semester. While some universities, like Marywood, are postponing spring commencement ceremonies, others, like the University of Pennsylvania, have canceled them outright and moved them online. Others still, like Penn State, have canceled them with no updates yet about a reschedule.

 

University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann wrote in an email to the Penn community last Monday evening that the University cannot responsibly gather thousands of people to campus for Commencement and Alumni Weekend, based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health experts.

 

Meanwhile, Wilkes University has transitioned to online courses until April 6 at the earliest. Under Wolf's latest order regarding non-essential businesses to shut down, Wilkes has closed all of its residence halls excluding those housing international students. 

 

The Farley Library, Health Services and Dining Hall (excluding take-out between 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.) closed for the foreseeable future. All building access was revoked with the exception of students with special housing arrangements, critical personnel, University police or urgent needs.

 

All on-campus events, including athletic contests, were canceled for the remainder of the semester. All experiential learning assignments such as internships, externships, clinicals, labs and student teaching assignments were suspended as well. Presentations for senior projects might have to get moved online or canceled entirely.

 

With an indefinite timetable that projects into May, the week of March 9 to March 13 was likely the last time many seniors were able to see one another. The shutdown is an emotional time for many seniors, not just at Wilkes but also across the country.

 

"The campus shutdown is devastating. This is for a multitude of reasons, but for graduating seniors specifically, we may have walked on our undergraduate campus for the last time. We did not get the opportunity to talk to and sincerely thank faculty, staff and classmates who may have had a huge impact on our academic careers and personal lives," said Cassandra Merrill, senior Spanish and secondary education major. "We may not have a graduation ceremony—the culmination of all of our hard work and successes. I believe if a college student is not upset about their campus shutdown, they picked the wrong school."

 

Merrill, in addition to being a senior is also a resident assistant, a first-year student e-mentor, a lead admissions ambassador, and the treasurer for the LEAP Program executive board and the KDP Education Honor Society. She expressed remorse that her campus involvement has likely come to an end.

 

While the campus shutdown has affected all seniors, it poses a unique problem for education majors, as local school districts have shut down as well. All education majors are required to student teach and it functions as their internship, and is considered to be the most important 14 weeks of their college careers. 

 

Merrill said that many education students are scared because the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) creates the guidelines for being certified to teach in the state, not Wilkes. At the moment, many education students are in uncharted waters.

 

"In all seriousness, I have personally never been more scared in my academic career," she said.

 

She also said she's worried for her students. At this time, she said many education students are following the directives of their respective local school districts. She said that while some schools are moving online, other districts don't have this as a realistic expectation.

 

"For example, my placement does not supply Chromebooks to students and many students do not have computers, nevermind the Internet. So, the school closings affect us all differently. We are concerned for our students' well being and their futures. School offers so much security and fosters development in a regulated and safe way," she said.

 

Mechanical engineering students have also been hit hard by the shutdown. Many of their classes and projects take place in labs, using technology and software that is only available on university computers.

 

"The most notable example of this is ME380 – Advanced CADD. The entirety of the course work and projects requires the use of the program SOLIDWORKS in order to complete it. The problem with not being able to be on campus to complete this work is that SOLIDWORKS is a very expensive program costing $1000+ for a single license, so it is not a viable option for purchase on a personal PC," said James DeGerolamo, senior mechanical engineering major. 

 

"Fortunately, the professor recognizes this and is trying to be as accommodating as possible. All other class-related changes are minor in comparison and can be dealt with," he continued.

 

For seniors, the shutdown has put a clam on their year-long capstone projects. Every senior is required to work on a team to develop a product in the field of mechanical engineering. The process is guided by weekly meetings on campus and then follow-ups with teams needed to accomplished for the week. Oftentimes, this would involve securing parts and components for their specific projects.

 

"The professors basically told us we wouldn't be allowed into labs, so we had to take all of our parts and equipment home with us to work on and have it ready for when we get back. Can't really do a group project if you're doing it at home," said Amrit Chandhok, senior mechanical engineering major.

 

"We did face the issue on whether we will be allowed access to the shop in the basement of Stark, which has the welding and machining equipment. We are still waiting to hear back if those resources are available, but otherwise, we are coming up with unique solutions to overcome those needs," he continued.

 

Chandhok is also a member of the Kirby Scholar Program and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He said that ASME was forced to cancel their annual car show, both due to the shutdown and also because of the attendance typically consisting of an older generation. He said that before the Kirby Center closed students were allowed to work on their projects from home.

 

In addition, all mechanical engineers are required to take the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam as a graduation requirement. The test is proctored through independent centers located throughout the state, centers are located throughout the state and as of last week the testing centers shut down. There is currently no update on whether the department plans to waive the requirement.

 

In pharmacy, the shutdown has disrupted many students' care labs and has placed stress on students in pharmacy internships due to the increase in demand for help in the healthcare industry. Many pharmacy students are in internships at local pharmacies such as CVS, which are dealing with "coronavirus rushes" and have been hiring extra employees to deal with the surge. Care labs, meanwhile, are a graduation requirement, and require students working in teams. Due to the shutdown, many of these labs have to be done individually.

 

"P2 students don’t necessarily have a senior project because we are not seniors based on our majors. However, we do have obligations that have been entirely disrupted due to this shutdown. For example we have these things called IPPEs (Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences) which are essential to our graduation, and due to this campus shutdown they are put on hold," said Emily Wassel, P2 pharmacy student.

She went on to say that while she understood why they were put on hold, the pharmacy curriculum is organized in a strict path. She said she is anxious as to how students will be able to find time to redo those experiences.

 

Not all departments were hit as hard, however. Senior marketing students are already enrolled in an online capstone course, so they are one of the few majors who are left relatively unscathed.

 

"I think business classes are some of the best classes to have online. We learn mostly through lectures and notes and require little hands on experience or interaction. Honestly, most of the class material could be uploaded in a PowerPoint or video lecture and a student can just teach themselves," said Kevin Singhel, senior marketing major.

 

However, obviously classes were not the only thing affecting seniors. There are many student-athletes who have seen their final seasons get cut short.

 

"I had so much to look forward to and now it's gone. I won't be able to play in a game again. It's such a sad reality to face. I won't be eligible for redshirting as I will be graduating this spring, but I believe athletes should have another chance to play," said Gracie Franko, senior communication studies major and one of the lacrosse team captains. 

 

"It's hard to start something and not being able to fully finish it, and no athlete no matter at what level should have to experience it," she continued.

 

In addition to official athletics, this has also affected students involved in intramural leagues.

 

"Spring track has been canceled completely. Although we do not have an official track team at Wilkes, the cross country team still holds practices and still goes to a few meets. However, all of those have been canceled and all of our training must be at home now. As a senior, this means that I have ran in my last race ever without actually knowing it," said Singhel.

 

The coronavirus is a problem bigger than all of us, so much so it has essentially stopped the world. Everybody is affected by this, but it also hurts for about two million college seniors who won't be able to experience the many senior events they had been dreaming of for the past four years. 

 

For many seniors across the country, they won't have the luxury of these final moments. They won't be receiving the closure their upperclassmen got. They have been robbed of an important event in their lives. While there are people who have it worse, it is understandable and reasonable for seniors to feel overwhelmed and angry. Such is the emotional impact of a shut-down society.

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(An abridged version of this story can be found here on The Beacon website.)