3 minute read
New Student Gallery in Scandling
attendance that they both would have been restricted to being online.
This is one discrepancy that should have been acknowledged by the Colleges, but with COVID cases at the time being so low, it did not seem to be a priority to address.
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A little over a week later, on February 10, President Joyce Jacobsen, Provost Sarah Kirk, and Vice President for Campus Life Becca Barile sent a Campus Life email to the student body stating that Governor Kathy Hochul lifted New York State’s indoor mask mandate and conveniently corresponds with the Colleges’ decision to evaluate their policies for the spring semester.
The email declared that as of February 11, “masking will not be required in residence halls or dining facilities” and starting on February 14, “masking will not be required for all indoor spaces across campus.”
This was a big step for HWS to take after being masked indoors for over a year. Of course, several departments on campus declared that students should continue to stay masked in classes until further notice.
This email left the HWS community in an odd gray area of To-Mask or Not-toMask.
Sarah Spears ‘23 sided with Not-to-Mask with joy and claimed that she was not concerned with what would happen to the HWS community regarding COVID-19 cases.
“I was not worried because I was already socializing with friends outside of classes in indoor spaces,” said Spears. “For some time, I was questioning why I still had to wear a mask in the library because I saw the same people without a mask in Kappa Sig’s basement not too long ago. I was relieved, to say the least, because I could finally work out at Bristol gym without sweating through a mask.”
There are obvious pleasures in life that are able to be experienced again with the lift of the mask mandate put into place on February 11. There are positives and negatives to both wearing the mask and lifting the mandate, especially considering there have been 96 confirmed positive cases on campus this semester.
The positives are you don’t have to sweat with a mask on, you get to not wear a mask in a crowded dining hall, you don’t have to wear a mask in some classes now. You don’t have to wear a mask! Basically. That is the only positive in this situation, according to this student.
On the other hand, 96 confirmed positive cases have been reported since the beginning of the semester, 11 new cases today as of March 2, 27 students are in quarantine or isolation, and testing for COVID-19 is no longer required. These are the downsides of lifting the mandate.
With a possible buildup of COVID-19 spreading on campus as more people unmask in public indoor spaces, frankly, it is due time for the Colleges to acknowledge that a college campus tends to be a bubble waiting to burst with illnesses.
A New Student Gallery Space Coming Soon to Scandling Center
By Claire Kapitan ‘24 Staff Writer
The Provenzano Student Art Gallery is coming soon to Scandling Center! The future student gallery space will be housed in the ATM lounge, a central location
that is accessible to students, faculty/staff at HWS, and outside communities. The art gallery will be run by students, for students, and will showcase a diverse collection of art made by the HWS school community.
This space will prioritize the visibility of student art and will allow students interested in gallery management, curation, and art installation to get hands-on experience working within these professions through mentorship opportunities. This collaborative and creative space will also host events like artist workshops, poetry slams, open mikes, and music performances.
“Although students will be guided through mentorship, they will have full agency over this space—it’s your space!” says Anna Wager, the Visual Arts Curator at the Davis Gallery on campus.
This exciting opportunity for student representation, expression, and
collaboration will bring new life and energy to the HWS campus.
