Belly of The Beast The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic Beyond the Physical Written by: Simone Crowder Design & Graphic by: Emily Snisarenko
COVID-19, a pandemic distinguishable by intense fear and tragedy, also shed light on a myriad of social injustices of the same caliber happening in our midst. In early 2020, for instance, the murder of George Floyd prompted a massive response from the Black Lives Matter movement, its impact still just as meaningful over a year later. Political divide during the 2020 Election later that year also emphasized the hunger of humanity for sweetness in a sour world, forcing us to consider our relationships with one another as a collective and how much we care for each other as human beings. These particular global events that characterized this time period, as well as many others, served as catalysts for similar social movements on our own campus. First: Allegations against Shiney James, BU’s Director of Orientation, were released, detailing how she severely emotionally abused students who worked alongside her. She ironically created an awful work environment while current BU students simultaneously welcomed new freshmen and transfer students into what is supposedly a safe space to learn. A plethora of students who worked under James repeatedly received extremely humiliating and demeaning comments from her as well as uncomfortable pressure to share personal information that would not have been disclosed otherwise. This inappropriate behavior from James, in turn, resulted in severe, negative impacts on her students’ mental health.
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The Daily Press, BU’s independent student newspaper, received many comments underneath a Twitter post made on October 4th, 2021 notifying readers of the publication of an article about James and her allegations. Twitter user @natalie_gnzz, for example, commented: “Shiney mostly hired LGBTQ+, low income, and people of color. She was open about using her identity as a woman of color so we would view her as a safe person and make it even easier for her to abuse us.” Through their words, they revealed that being an employee in college is a vulnerable existence in itself. But, in the case of Shiney’s employees, the feeling of vulnerability is much more tangible, due to the fact that many of them are a part of marginalized groups. Second: Although BU had completely returned to in-person classes and retained a relatively normal semester, a few protocols remained, some of which were controversial. BU notified its students that professors were not allowed to record lectures they taught, which intensely frustrated the student body. Several students’ main concern was that quarantined students infected with or exposed to COVID-19 would fall behind in classes with little help to get back on their feet, which prompted a petition being created to gather other students’ support. Hilda Balderas (CAS ‘25) pointed out that “it is amazing how [BU takes] Covid seriously, but it is astonishing at how in keeping us safe, they prevent us from learning and make it difficult for everybody in quarantine to excel.”
