By Katie Oglesby, Assistant News Editor
After the college announced yesterday that it would extend spring break through March 22, many Gettysburg College students are wondering what this means for the rest of the semester. Among these concerns is the larger question of what remote teaching could mean for all students, but especially those who are international students, involved in courses that cannot easily transition online, or seniors awaiting graduation.
Music performance majors, such as Hannah Kolarik ‘20, have the added stress of completing a senior recital that cannot be held in their own homes.
“To graduate, I need to do my senior recital. I need to perform for my capstone,” she said. “It makes me worry about how I can do my recital and if I can do my recital and how I can get my degree. And I think a lot of seniors are in the same boat.”
These concerns are also acute for STEM majors with large lab components to their courses, economics majors who rely on data applications in computer labs, and theater majors with performance aspects that cannot be replicated in their own homes.
For international students, the possibility of campus closing has more implications than it would for an in-state or even out-of-state student. Chakriya Ou ‘23 is an international student from Cambodia. While plans for Spring Break and summer were already complicated for her, now plans for the rest of the semester have been made just as complicated, if not more.
“Honestly, I am a little bit worried that Gettysburg will decide to make students move out like other schools because if that happens, I will have no where to go,” she said. “It will be really challenging for me because if if the school makes [an] exception for international students to still stay on campus and do online classes, it might affect my student visa as it is stated that I can remain in the US only if I am enrolled at school full-time and I am uncertain about what online classes will do [to that].”
With Gettysburg largely silent on plans beyond the extension of Spring Break, these students raise questions on the implications of what campus closure and remote teaching would mean to those in unique situations.
As seniors are unsure if they will even be spending the last quarter of their final year on campus, they express questions of whether commencement can be held and whether their capstones can be completed in the case of remote teaching.
“I understand and appreciate the importance of keeping everyone safe, but I urge the administration to not take the decision about whether or not students should return to campus lightly,” Sofia Mouritsen ‘20 said. “As a senior, I have felt my days remaining at Gettysburg slip away over the course of this year, and I came into this spring semester determined to appreciate and fully live into every remaining moment. Today, I am filled with deep sadness to know that I might not be able to finish out my time in this wonderful place, in the company of some of the most incredible people I have ever met.”
As Mouritsen said, “To the administration: I know that you must do what is best and what is right, but please, please do not forget about those of us who have precious little time left to call this place home.”
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