Blockquote “Thus, the serious athlete with other options might want to chose a different school , and frankly, all these posts merely prove my point!”
To be fair, then serious athletes should also take Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and in all likelihood the NESCAC schools off their lists, plus the Ivy League.
If some reason was articulated that clearly spelled out why Haverford cannot play, I may be sympathetic to your point. But without it, one if left to guess about the reasons and motivations. “We’re in a pandemic”’ isn’t enough right now when nearly every other school is playing.
Everyone, and by extension every college, has different risk tolerance. That someone could take the risk and came out it without negative consequences doesn’t mean everyone would be so lucky.
I’m not going to support the aggression of the OP and provide theories (I have absolutely no facts), but the surprise (to me) in this thread is the sense of being blindsided. This has been in the cards since October 13th.
I agree it’s not surprising they’ve cancelled but why do you think they haven’t provided more of a reason? Wouldn’t that be helpful? Maybe there are reasons unique to this school. Again when you’re an outlier from other schools, sharing your reason would go a long way.
Are they outliers though? Their consortium partner schools have done the same, and they’re hardly the only three schools to make that decision.
It does seem like they are an outlier in their own conference, which is the best comparison. After that, I am not sure how many D3 conferences are having spring sports, but my sense is that many are (there is no place to see aggregate data AFAIK). Most D1 and D2 schools are playing spring sports, and many high schools are too. If a school is testing for covid regularly, it seems there is little reason to not have sports and other activities…especially sports/activities where distancing is possible like golf, baseball, TNF, crew, dance, theater productions, etc.
The student body of this college seems pretty divided. Perhaps the Board wanted to prevent further divisions that might be caused by allowing 30% of the population to go back to business as usual for their main EC while leaving the other 70% in lockdown. If student mental health is as big as a concern as OP suggests then the mental health of all the students should be considered. I can see where the Board might think that there’s more progress to be made by creating one community that lives under the same rules than there is by giving only a small portion of the student body the privilege of returning to their main EC while the majority live with more restrictive rules.
Regardless Haverford’s reasoning for not holding spring sports (and we can speculate on that ad nauseam) why not be transparent in communications? When a business is offering an experience at a premium price, that’s what the customer base demands…timely, accurate, transparent communications. Seems simple.
Each college had their own C19 responses. In NC, UNC shut down campus almost completely and sent most students home. NCSU had all virtual classes, but students were given the option to remain on campus. App State was even more open.
In sports, in the ACC, most schools played a complete basketball schedule. Duke complained a lot and even proactively chose to skip some games. I don’t think anyone would say Duke University is not committed to college basketball just because of their reaction during a pandemic that has killed (and continues to kill) so many people.
Personally, I’m all for staying open. I’m all for forging ahead, gritting teeth, and living my life. But I wouldn’t dare presume to tell others they how they should address their concern. I wouldn’t criticize a business owner and demand she endanger the lives of her employees because some customers want to continue to be served as if nothing is different.
Also, while some of us may agree that 20-year old student athletes probably have an extremely low chance at suffering harsh reactions even if they contract C19, we can’t forget that many other people are involved. There are bus drivers, referees, coaches, medical staff, etc involved in putting on these games - many are far older than 20 years old. Every time a game is played, their risk of exposure increases. If a college is not yet holding classes 100% in person on a 100% open campus, that in itself is justification (if any is needed) for temporarily halting sports.
So the kids at the local state u don’t also deserve “timely, accurate, transparent” communications? The cost of tuition is irrelevant.
The administration did give a reason for their decision. OP just doesn’t like it.
You are putting words in my mouth, I never said anything about a private/public divide…why jump to that conclusion? I happen to believe most state uni are also a premium price.
Haverford is taking a very conservative approach to everything. They sent an email to students this morning that they can’t commit to having an outdoor graduation with a limit of 2 visitors per grad (as outlined before). They’ll decide by April 1 (graduation is on Memorial Day weekend).
$250k to watch your kid collect their diploma on TV.
Should they have just canceled graduation as a by-product of a spring sports calendar?
There is a lot more than just “everyone else is playing”. I feel bad for the parents of graduates who can’t even plan to see their son/daughter collect their diploma. I know of one family from overseas that has been saving for 4 years to make graduation their first and only visit to the campus…and they don’t know if that will be allowed (on countless fronts).
COVID is to blame folks… not the administration. Solving one problem in isolation is simple. Managing all of the priorities and concerns of a campus (especially a small one, where everyone feels like their opinion is supposed to matter) is incredibly difficult.
Look, the point is that compared to other schools in their own conference, the President herself has decided they aren’t playing. If anyone else was involved, she hasn’t revealed that to us. Comparing the decision to the NESCACs (who haven’t decided yet)isn’t a correct analogy. It’s more like if the NESCACS decided to play and Williams said “No, not us” without giving the reason for decision.
And for all the posters who say “they should have known”-they didn’t. I can honestly report that the majority of athletes and parents feel blindsided. That’s the reality. The President absolutely could have set this up better. I don’t understand why so many posters feel that we don’t deserve transparency and clear communication.
I believe President Raymond sent the email about graduation today to “prove” she’s willing to deprive everyone of experiences that are safe in hopes this will detract from last week’s disastrous decision. I can’t see why a graduation of 250 students, none of whom have COVID(because they are all tested every week) can’t take place outside with 500 guests, many of whom will be vaccinated and all of whom can be distanced. They have a huge quad that they can spray 6 foot circles on!
20 minutes, unmasked, close proximity. That’s the science, not just in my head but the CDC criteria. It’s not rocket science. It’s epidemiology…
Because this stopped being about science a long time ago!
Haverford is not the only SLAC limiting in-person commencement to seniors. As far as 2021 commencement goes, Middlebury and Williams have announced that only graduating seniors will be able to attend in person. Middlebury specifies that seniors enrolled remotely will not be able to return to campus for in-person graduation.
Really crazy. They all have football or athletic fields. Small class. Very easy to have kids spread out on the field. Each have 2 parents / guests. Very easy to spread them out as well. If they have a an outdoor stadium that holds a few thousand, would be super easy to put 500 kids on the field and 1000 guest spread in the stands. There is no reason not to do this.
There’s a great reason not to do this: I highly doubt the small local towns want an influx of hundreds possibly a thousand, people from all over the country if not the world. Covid is still with us, don’t get ahead of your skis.
If you are going to have people from around the world, there are all kinds of travel issues. Forget about visa’s and other really complicated scenarios…Canadians can’t go home if they drive down for the graduation.
The Haverford class of 2021 started with students from 37 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and 24 countries. It’s a lot of planning and contingencies. I don’t think smaller schools have the staffing to focus on this as needed.
The logistics of “where on campus” to hold this is likely the easy part of the equation.
From the current CDC website:
Travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. CDC recommends that you do not travel at this time. Delay travel and stay home to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.
Is there a different science you were referring to?