Clarke University has not given the answers to winter athletes that they want to hear at this point. Winter athletes want to know, does Clarke intend to let them go home and see their families for Thanksgiving? Or, do they want winter athletes to continue practicing and stay on campus for that time? At this point, Clarke’s athletic director does not have an answer to these questions.
First off, Curt Long was interviewed. He is the director of athletics here at Clarke. His first question was who came up with the idea for classes to be online after thanksgiving. He confirmed that academic affairs makes a joint decision and it goes through a cabinet of people. He said that “Susan Burns is the final person it passes through.” In addition to that question he was asked who makes the protocols for Thanksgiving and Winter breaks for athletes. He disclosed that “it is a combined decision by a board” and they “determine which teams are still competing.” He explained how this has been a difficult decision to make. He said Clarke wants to “keep the campus as safe as possible but at the same time let the students go home.” He mentioned that “we expected a second wave of Covid, expected summer to slow down the spread and there be an increase in the fall.” Lastly, he was asked if he or the board has a timetable for this decision. He didn’t let out any key details on the Thanksgiving break protocols. Rather he explained that there are some things he was implanting for the Winter break protocol. He said “on the second week of January there will be a Covid-19 test and there will only be teams in season on campus at that time.”
Next, a couple students here at Clarke were interviewed. The first student was asked if Thanksgiving is a big deal in his family. He said that it absolutely is. He specified that “he has a close relationship to his parents and it would make him angry if he wasn’t able to see them.” He was asked subsequently what his opinion on students going home to see their families was. He answered with saying “it doesn’t make sense how students can go home on a weekend to see their family but might not be able to go see them for Thanksgiving.” He also said that he doesn’t believe colleges should be open right now. He said it is a “weird situation and having a ton of people going to school makes things worse.” Then, he was asked if he has gone to see his family to this point. He revealed he has and he still misses them tremendously.
Afterwards, the second student was interviewed. He was asked if he thinks it’s safe to keep students here over thanksgiving break. He disclosed that he thinks it would be the safest option if students were kept here on campus. He added “most students might not agree with me, but it’s the safest thing to do with the circumstances.” He was then asked what his reaction would be if he could not go see his family. He mentioned that “he would have to deal with it, but this news would upset him a little.” He also said, “I’ve seen my family every year for thanksgiving and it would be weird to spend a holiday without them.”
In addition, I questioned Student #3 if he thinks he would lose a competitive edge by leaving for Thanksgiving and not being with his team. He claimed that there may be a slight drop off in skill. Still, he said “they can use at home workouts and keep the momentum of the season going.” “Losing a few practices to Covid wouldn’t hurt our team that much” he explained. My next question was, how would you spend thanksgiving here if you couldn’t go home? The student indicated that he “would just stay here and make the most of it with his teammates.” He added that his team could have a team Thanksgiving dinner together on campus.
As a result of there being no decision made by Clarke University, students have felt very uneasy. Students want answers but there are none at this time. It’s hard to give your loved ones the answers when you don’t all have the answers yourself. We as students hope Clarke University can make a safe and helpful decision soon.
