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Originally Posted by NYCMS
Thanks too PersistentDST for your insights. Colleges were already challenged pre-Pandemic. Declining enrollment, rising tuition and many left wondering what a diploma is worth given the massive debt graduates are carrying well into their 30's. Great NY Times article today about the future of college and the Pandemic challenges which is why many colleges are considering waiting until January. Needing to have only one student per dorm room (where do the rest go? Most college towns have only a certain number of apartments), spread out seating in lecturers, older professors, etc. Harvard Medical School just announced that first year students will be taught virtually and that Univ. of California system is considering a mix of in-person and virtual.
As for the need to "no longer socially distance" once the states open up? That's a recipe for disaster. Social distancing and masks are here to stay if you want to be part of the solution. Here's some information worthwhile considering:
1) That states re-opening have NOT met the 4 qualifying guidelines required by the federal government.
2) The National Academy of Science says that it's not true that the virus can't live in warm weather so the argument for having rush in August/September doesn't hold if this is the case.
Other changes to our lives? Cost of living going up. That hair salon that used to seat 10 patrons now can only seat 5. They have to buy all the equipment, etc. to keep things safe. Your cut will cost more. Our "new normal" lives will be drastically different although I think some people, based on behavior seen in re-opening states, think it can go back to what it was or just with a few 'tweaks'.
I'm likely more cautious since I live in NYC, the epicenter of it all where we live on top of each other and rely on public transportation (which I don't know if I'll take for the rest of this year). College campuses are a microcosm of NYC...kids on top of each other, packed into dorms, sorority houses and in bars. I wouldn't be re-opening schools in person if it were up to me. As AZTheta said it so well, life as we have known it is undergoing a major sea change and shift.
Get ready for a challenging few years, at least until a vaccine that works is found and used widely (already reading about how some people say they'll refuse to take it...which will open a new can of worms.)
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I could not agree with you more. I'm in the DC area where things are still escalating. So many people I see in my own area, and certainly in other parts of the country, think that the crisis has passed and we can all get back to our normal lives. I heave heard someone say that wearing a mask is "unpatriotic". Hmmm...I wear a mask if I have to go out because I actually care about other humans and fellow citizens...not sure how that makes me UNpatriotic?! This has all been quite the social experiment and I don't like what it says about the US. I haven't heard of one other country with citizens claiming restrictions and health safeguards are a violation of rights.
Back to recruitment, I'm just not sure how a virtual or semi-virtual recruitment could work, but I think that any chapter that traditionally holds a fall recruitment should at least give it a shot--they'll need every dollar of dues they can get!