Exposed vs. excused: Students, faculty voice concern with Chapman’s COVID-19 protocol
Students and faculty share their thoughts on Chapman’s handling of COVID-19 protocol after a surge of over 250 cases since the first day of in-person instruction. Graphic by HARRY LADA, Art Director
The name of the faculty member who spoke with The Panther has been changed to “Alex,” as they asked to remain anonymous.
When senior film production major Emu Haynes first direct messaged The Panther Aug. 30, she was coming off the heels of some disheartening news: she had COVID-19.
After being exposed to the coronavirus by one of her two roommates, Haynes tested negative Aug. 29. Despite being both vaccinated and not reporting any early symptoms, she took a follow up test Aug. 30 to reveal she was, in fact, positive. Had she not gotten tested, she would have been sitting in her 8:30 a.m. lecture unknowingly exposing her peers to the virus.
“Thank God I didn’t go to the class, because I would have felt horrible knowing that I had spread (COVID-19) to people,” Haynes said. “I think a lot of (students) realize they’ve been exposed and are getting tested, but it’s not something that Chapman is requiring right now with vaccinated students. You don’t know how many other students have been exposed, are not getting tested and are continuing to spread it because they’re asymptomatic.”
Haynes, known on Tiktok as @theemutheemu, took to social media with her frustration. Based on her own experience and a similar one shared by her roommate, she claimed the university’s current COVID-19 protocol incentivizes students to attend in-person classes, regardless of exposure.
The university’s policy currently does not require vaccinated students to quarantine upon contact with the virus and only allows excused absences for students with positive test results. Students seeking an excusal can submit requests to the Office of Student Affairs.
“If you have been asked to quarantine, then your absence will be excused,” said Chapman President Daniele Struppa from Ancona, Italy in a Zoom interview with The Panther Sept. 7. “If you have not been asked to quarantine because the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) CDC does not recommend quarantine, then you have to go to class. That’s not really confusing.”
In the same conversation, the president also said:
“I really don’t see any reason why faculty shouldn’t be able to excuse an absence due to (COVID-19). They should excuse the absence … I think the faculty misunderstood the fact that students need to be excused if they have to for some reason.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends individuals get tested three to five days after exposure regardless of symptoms. The university only mandates COVID-19 testing for non-vaccinated students twice a week; however, the COVID-19 testing center facilitated by the Student Health Center saw over 1,000 students utilizing the service Sept. 7 alone.
Between the first and second days of classes, the number of students on campus receiving positive test results nearly doubled from 87 to 163. The university’s COVID-19 dashboard currently lists a total of 258 active cases as of Sept. 8, which is 32 less than what was previously reported for the same day. After a student’s isolation period is up, their case is no longer considered active and the overall case count decreases.
Struppa said it is more likely the positive cases are a reflection of how students choose to follow COVID-19 safety guidelines in their social lives.
“People didn’t get sick by coming to Chapman,” Struppa said. “People got sick because of what they did off-campus.”
Though Chapman instituted a vaccine mandate, proof of which is required by Sept. 14, students also have the option to submit a personal declination form for medical, religious or personal reasons. With only about 4% of the student body having opted for exemption, the current vaccination rate of students rests at 90%. Even so, ongoing medical research suggests immunization is not entirely effective against the Delta variant.
“Chapman basically treated it like the pandemic’s over, and this is just a typical illness,” Haynes said. “I’m vaccinated and I still got COVID-19. You’re not completely in the clear if you’re vaccinated; it’s still an issue and it will spread.”
For students who test positive, their professors are required to accommodate them academically “as they do in all other terms,” Provost Norma Bouchard clarified in an Aug. 27 email to all Chapman faculty. However, the university currently advises against faculty offering synchronous hybrid classes for students who have been exposed to or are ill with COVID-19. Professors are also not required to record their lectures for asynchronous learning.
Alex, a faculty member who has asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from senior administration, told The Panther they opted to facilitate hybrid learning anyway after having two students test positive.
“‘Do your job and shut up’ is kind of the vibe that is recurrent,” Alex said. “A lot of faculty ... (with) immunocompromised cells and household members and family members are really worried that we're taking this stuff back to our kids.”
“‘Do your job and shut up’ is kind of the vibe that is recurrent ... a lot of faculty ... (with) immunocompromised cells and household members and family members are really worried that we’re taking this stuff back to our kids.”
Alex added that the current COVID-19 protocol is “inadequate,” and they have never seen faculty so dismayed at the lack of leadership from senior administrators.
Since the class exposure, Alex has yet to be contacted by a member of the COVID-19 contact tracing team, which has been inundated with cases over the last week.
Struppa received a request from Student Health Services Sept. 6 to expand the breadth of the contact tracing team. Later that day, he sent an email announcing the addition of a new contact tracing service, called Rapid-Trace.
“Our original team was overwhelmed with requests, so that was really the major purpose of why we are increasing our ability to monitor and to follow up on cases,” Struppa said.
Apart from retroactively reaching out to students with potential exposure, the university’s other primary defense against COVID-19 transmission is the daily screening survey, which dictates a student’s compliance status. The system is one that relies on the honesty of the user’s response in order to be fully effective.
“There is no real remedy toward somebody who willingly lies on the questionnaire,” Struppa said. “If you answer correctly, why would you come then?”
While talking with The Panther, Haynes tested the daily screening survey to see if the system would recognize falsified compliance. Just a few minutes after submitting, an email popped up in her inbox with the word “CLEAR” in bold, green print, despite Haynes having informed the university of her positive test result.
An online Change.org petition has garnered over 1,400 signatures, demanding that Chapman offer further enforcement of protocol through frequent surveillance testing of all individuals on-campus regardless of vaccination status. The document also proposes the university reinstitute hybrid learning for students to use at their own discretion.
“Students are going to class because they feel like they have to, whether they’ve been exposed or they have a fear of being exposed,” Hayes said. “Having a hybrid option … would not only save the community from being more at risk, but also help the students to alleviate some stress.”