Dear Dickinson,

While we appreciate the effort that has been made to get groups on campus safely in the spring semester, we as the senior class believe that the current plan is not the strongest, nor does it prioritize the seniors in the way that we deserve in our last semester at our school.

            We agree that everyone’s health and avoiding COVID is the main priority, so we support the decision not to bring the entire student body back to campus. The first two months of the spring semester are the coldest and we often see a spread of colds and flus even in a regular year. This would be even more dangerous when compounded with COVID. We understand and support that housing and classroom arrangements must be reorganized to allow for physical distancing, that masks are required everywhere we go and that large gatherings are not allowed. There are groups, such as the students that have already petitioned to be on campus this fall, that absolutely need to remain on campus for their own safety or other reasons. We do not dispute that. However, when it comes to the decision on what other groups to allow back outside of those which are need-based, we believe that the seniors should be allowed to celebrate our full final semester on campus in a safe and responsible manner.

            Under the current spring reopening plan, two classes at a time only get a month and a half to be on campus. Subtracted from this is the unspecified quarantine period that will be required of everyone upon arriving to campus. This would bring the time we can have a more normal campus experience down to even less than six weeks. In addition, Dickinson’s student body hails from all over the country. This plan asks everyone to pack up all their belongings and move to Carlisle—hours away, for most people—only to pack everything back up and move hours back home less than two months later. It is not only extremely inconvenient financially and physically but frankly, it is disruptive to our academic careers which are already difficult as is. Many seniors and other upperclassmen feel that it is not worth it to return to campus for such a short and stressful time and are planning to opt to do the entire semester remotely in order to avoid the burden of the mid-semester switch, despite the many difficulties of online learning.

            With freshmen and sophomores arriving on campus for the first half, we are worried that the most inexperienced members of our student body will behave irresponsibly and revoke campus privileges for the rest of us. Underclassmen who have had one or zero semesters on campus are dying to have the textbook college experience. Like the rest of us, they are tired of taking zoom class and tired of being at stuck at home, but unlike the rest of us they are fresh out of high school and have not yet had the time to develop the sense of decency and responsibility that will keep them from violating gathering rules, getting in trouble en masse, and abusing their time on campus in a way that will cause the decision to allow members on campus to be rescinded. We would be unspeakably disappointed if we were to be stripped of our last time at Dickinson due to the irresponsibility of the classes on campus before us.

            Most if not all seniors are taking capstone classes and other final courses for our majors and minors; these are 300- and 400-level classes, the most challenging classes we will take in our undergraduate careers, and we have already had to spend half of junior and half of our senior years taking them online. You are asking us to prepare for our most difficult semester to be made even more difficult by the mental transition of switching from online to in-person, and having to physically transition to a brand new style of life on campus at the same time midway through the semester. This is not conducive to any type of learning, let alone learning for students taking their most challenging courses and for the professors teaching them.

            Just as important as it being our most difficult semester is the fact that it is in fact our last semester for anything. It is our last semester to be with the friends that we have made it through the past four years with, it is our last semester to spend time with the coaches and professors who have helped us learn and grow, our last semester to go to the farmer’s market, to walk around Carlisle, to sit outside on Britton Plaza. As athletes, we had no idea our last game would be our last ever. As performers, we had no idea our last show would be our last ever. It is sad enough that we will have to do our last semester with masks and social distancing. It should not be cut down to a period of less than six weeks that will be even more confusing and stressful than need be.

            We have dedicated the last four years of our lives to representing and improving this school. We deserve to celebrate the time we have spent here. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors have more time to do all of this on Dickinson’s campus. For seniors, this is our last chance to be Red Devils. We ask that you consider changing the spring reopening plan in order to bring the full senior class on campus for the full spring semester.

Sincerely,

The Class of 2021