Along with careful and ambitious plans to reopen for the fall semester amid a pandemic have come pledges from campus leaders to keep all of their students safe. But new guidance from the American College Health Association (ACHA) urges college officials to also protect, support and engage those who are most vulnerable in the campus population as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences.
In its Supporting Vulnerable Campus Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic guidelines, ACHA names African American/Black, Asian American, first generation/low income, international, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native American, and undocumented students, as well as students with disabilities as groups that have not only experienced the pandemic’s disproportionate impact, but the economic fallout, racism and health disparities that have been at the intersection of the public health crisis. This list, authors point out, is not exhaustive, and students may fall into multiple categories.
“We know from history that our most vulnerable citizens — marginalized, low income, underserved, and people of color — are the same people who suffer the most during a global health crisis. That holds true on college campuses as well,” says Dr. Devin Jopp, ACHA’s CEO. Among them are students attending historically Black colleges and universities. Many are often “uninsured or underinsured and rely on the care and services provided by student health centers and campus counseling centers, and during the pandemic, face “a unique set of challenges,” authors said.
Dr. Jean Chin, an associate clinical professor of medicine at Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, sits on the ACHA’s COVID-19 Task Force and is an author of the guidelines. Diverse spoke with Chin about the new guidance, mitigating a campus outbreak and whether a successful fall semester during a pandemic is possible.
DIVERSE: What have been your thoughts as you’ve tracked and watched the recent round of campus openings and sudden shifts to sending students home and going all virtual?
CHIN: I believe that many colleges moved forward to open even knowing the rate of community transmission was high. UNC Chapel Hill was a prime example of that. Community transmission was high, the Orange County [North Carolina] health officials asked to delay opening because of case rates. UNC Chapel Hill listened but opted to go a different way. If there was a clear national strategy with adherence to clear metrics, there would be less of a patchwork approach. Students are going to have lapses in behavior. That student behavior, the wild card in all the plans, will be the driving force of openings and then closings.
I also go back to the lack of a national strategy to manage this pandemic which has been unchecked for the better part of 9 months. The lack of a testing strategy, mask policies, PPE [personal protective equipment], testing supply distribution, and the fortitude to adhere to a phased reopening of the country has led to piecemeal approaches to reopening and closing of bars, restaurants, businesses, schools, and [higher ed institutions].
