Spring 2021 Quarterly

Page 7

ON THE HILL The mass campus testing event on November 13, pictured here, yielded a 1.5% positivity rate. The Minnesota Department of Health had warned Gustavus to expect a rate of between 10 and 15 percent. “That was when we realized what we had done worked,” says COVID response coordinator Barb Larson Taylor ’93.

A SEMESTER OF COVID-19: HOW WE ROAR-ED

there were no best practices, and the

the fall semester and in January, they did. It helped that first-year students (and

classes transitioned back and forth between online and face-to-face learning

criteria we were trying to implement kept

select returning students) moved in first,

while students and faculty navigated

changing.”

essentially for a three-week trial basis,

contact tracing and positive COVID-19

before all students were invited back

cases. When students moved home for

response coordinator (and associate

to campus. It required sacrifice. “One

winter break as scheduled, there had been

vice president for marketing and

of the biggest challenges was showing

no documented cases of transmission in a

communication) Barb Larson Taylor ’93.

first-years the culture of Gustavus when

Gustavus classroom.

COVID has truly been among the great

no one else was around,” says Lauren

challenges in Gustavus—and world—

Hecht, psychological science professor

rewarded for their decisions,” says Dale.

history. Gustavus students have risen

and director of the First Term Seminar

As was the whole campus. Consider the

to meet it.

program. For their first weeks of college,

positive test rate on campus. Gustavus

first-year students met for only one in-

Health Services administered 946

campus to rely heavily on the community

person class. All students were asked to

COVID-19 tests in the on-campus

to have the Gustie spirit and do the right

stay six feet apart and avoid gathering

clinic, along with 1,923 additional tests

thing,” says Heather Dale, director of the

indoors.

during three mass testing events. Fewer

Those are the words of COVID

“We made an intentional decision as a

Gustavus Health Service and a member of

There were only 16 confirmed cases of

“Students that made safe choices were

than 200 positive cases were recorded

the COVID Response Leadership Team.

COVID-19 in September—those students

between September and December,

The College asked students to ROAR—

set the tone for the rest of the semester.

making the cumulative positive rate 6.8

Respect Others and Act Responsibly. In

As the semester progressed, many

percent total.

GUSTAVUS QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021

“Nobody in the world had done this,

5


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