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Syracuse University announced Thursday that the Carrier Dome will be open to 900 student fans as a ‘pilot’ run. While this will bring us one step closer to normalcy, we must not forget that COVID-19 is still present and something to be taken seriously.

It’s been almost a year of COVID-19 lockdowns, spikes and anxiety. For many SU students, returning to normalcy seems like a distant dream. College students everywhere miss being able to hang out at parties and sports games. However, as much as we all miss pre-pandemic times, we cannot do what we please simply because we want to feel a sense of normalcy. 

Over the course of the last year, the number of COVID-19 cases among students on campus has fluctuated. Many of the drastic increases in this number have come from off-campus parties and other actions by students who disregard public health guidelines. 

Despite requiring that students be tested twice before the game and that they maintain 9 feet of distance between each “pod” of at most 4 students, the plan to allow students into the Dome for a game is still worrisome. 

It’s important to remember that Gov. Andrew Cuomo set a new guideline for college campuses as it relates to COVID-19 positivity rates and campus shutdowns. The state will now require SU to shut down if it reports 880 cases in a rolling two-week period.

Allowing 900 students to attend the game on Saturday only increases the chances of SU shutting down and moving all classes back online. This would put us right back to where we don’t want to be. 

Additionally, testing students 24 hours prior to the game doesn’t guarantee that the environment will be free of COVID-19. It’s possible for some students to have COVID-19 and receive a negative test. If a sample is collected too early in the infection cycle, a person who is infected may receive a negative result, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It’s perfectly understandable why students would jump at the opportunity to attend a game in the Dome with their friends. After all, it does return a sense of normalcy, even if it’s just for one night.

But given the risk of having in-person activities suspended and classes moved online indefinitely, it seems irresponsible to allow nearly 1,000 students into the Dome. However, if attending fans are cautious and follow the rules set in place for the event, we can keep the number of cases low and not risk campus being put on pause.

Samantha Kolb is an environmental studies major at SUNY-ESF. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at sakolb@syr.edu.

Published on March 4, 2021 at 10:25 pm