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Old Gold&Black
WAKE FOREST’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1916 VOL. 107, NO. 16
T H U R S DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5 , 2 0 21 “Cover s the campus like the magnolias”
wfuogb.com
Students struggle with mental health In an Old Gold & Black survey, students tended to rate their mental health low on a 1-10 scale BY AINE PIERRE News Editor pierav20@wfu.edu After two weeks of modified Orange status, rising COVID-19 case numbers and a near-constant cycle of rumors, miscommunication and anger, mental health on campus seems to be in a precarious spot, according to a new Old Gold & Black survey. The survey, which polled 25 Wake Forest students about the state of their mental wellbeing, was conducted between Feb. 23 and 24. Freshmen made up 44% of the sample; sophomores and seniors both made up 24% and juniors made up the remaining 8%. No graduate students responded to the survey. The survey asked respondents to rate the quality of their mental health on a one-through-ten scale, with ten being great and one being awful.
See Mental Health, Page 4 Graphic by Olivia Field/Old Gold & Black
While the university's official messaging on the COVID-19 surge emphasized that student organizations were not at fault, administrators privately told Greek Organizations their members were the source of spread.
Understanding the spread: COVID-19 and Greek life Communication concerning the Feb. 4 COVID-19 spike initially overlooked the role of Greek life BY OLIVIA FIELD Senior Writer fielor17@wfu.edu On Feb. 4 at 1:47 p.m., university administrators sent an email to the campus community with a warning: if cases continued to grow at the exponential rate of more than 150 in 48 hours, Wake Forest would have no choice but to establish a lockdown under Red operating status. The email also informed students that the university would be moving to a modified Orange operating status. The “unsustainable trends” were attributed to “social activity — small and
large gatherings, on and off-campus parties, and groups congregating at bars and restaurants. In these cases, masks were not worn, gathering sizes were ignored, and social distancing was not respected.” At approximately 8 p.m. that evening, presidents of Greek organizations received an email from Fraternity and Sorority Life Director Betsy Adams. The email, which was obtained by the Old Gold & Black, repeated the above quote with one key difference: it was followed by an acknowledgment that “a concerning number of these cases are associated with official or unofficial chapter functions.” Although it was never disclosed to the full university community via official communication, the Old Gold & Black has confirmed that 90% of positive cases between Feb. 1 and Feb. 4 can be attributed to Greek life.
Admin optimistic as COVID-19 cases fall As Governor Cooper lifts some statewide restrictions, Wake Forest will proceed with caution BY ELIZABETH MALINE Senior Writer malied17@wfu.edu
According to Dean of Students Adam Goldstein, much of the social activity that can be traced back to spread was connected with sorority rush. “Social activities contributed to the surge in positive cases in our community, and we can trace much of that to events hosted — officially or unofficially — by fraternity and sorority members,” Goldstein said. Adams did note that the Historically Black fraternities and sororities that make up the National Panhellenic Council did not contribute to the spike. As of Feb. 19, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Sigma Alpha Epsilon have both been placed under interim suspension pending conduct investigations.
Two weeks after an extreme spike in COVID-19 cases prompted tighter campus restrictions — including the closure of the ZSR Library and the Benson University Center — there has been a steady decline in new cases. According to the university’s COVID-19 dashboard, there have been a total of 91 reported cases since Feb. 12. This stands in stark contrast to the 117 cases that were reported in a single day on Feb. 8 at the height of the surge. “We want to congratulate our students for flattening the curve,” Vice President for Campus Life Penny Rue said. According to Rue, as of Wednesday asymptomatic testing from this week shows just 11 positive cases of the 1,650 students who were tested, a positivity rate of .66%.
See Greek, Page 5
See COVID-19, Page 7
