What will fall semester look like? A poem
by Annika Holliday ‘20
Like many of my peers, I had to make a big life decision on Friday, May 1, the annual national deadline to formally accept admission offers and submit deposits for fall term. With so many unknowns, colleges are now pushing back making a decision about the fall semester until the middle of the summer, making the college decision even more difficult. My inbox has been inundated with emails from university presidents and admission officers trying to reassure a nervous incoming first-year class, while acknowledging a harsh new reality. I thought it would be fun to curate their words into the poem below.
We understand
that you have many questions
as you consider your options
for the road ahead.
Fall semester may look
very different than it has
at any other time in our history.
The college experience
is built on the idea of lots of people
living and learning in close quarters
and gathering in large groups -
measures that work against any social distancing
to fight the spread of the pandemic.
We are thinking creatively,
considering an abundance of diverse expertise,
dedicated to careful analysis.
We will explore every possible means
to salvage the campus experience
and minimize the destruction.
Breaking the term up
into two seven-and-a-half-week modules.
A calendar-shifting approach
by delaying or canceling fall semester.
Remote, online learning,
as our last, and least preferable, option,
only if it becomes necessary and unavoidable.
We are considering -
removing door handles,
adding more custodians,
disinfecting the environment,
expecting students to clean up after themselves.
Opening will be a process
a couple of years
to find a new normal.
Here’s the (sad) reality.
Nobody knows
what the fall semester will look like.
We are imagining we can
produce a residential learning program,
but we don’t actually have
the answers to make that happen.
There’s no precedent for this -
too many unknowns
in the midst of uncertainty.
No decision has been made.