Lockdown Chronicles: Why I’m Going To Connecticut College – by Michael Tracey – Michael Tracey
Whatever your pre-existing views regarding the merits of an ungodly expensive private liberal arts education, it s still easy to sympathize with students who, through no real fault of their own, have been foisted into the comically dystopian position of paying approximately $80K per year to be confined to their dorm rooms, barred from visiting friends, and forced to endure yet another dreary round of ad hoc Zoom lectures.
Come to think of it: the Australia comparison is overly generous to the current state of affairs at Connecticut College. At least the ostensible logic behind Australia s outlandishly draconian lockdown measures is that they re necessary as the country awaits large-scale vaccine provision, which has lagged behind much of the world. And so the Government will enforce these harried police state conditions only for as long as it takes to get more vaccines in distribution. (Supposedly.) But at Connecticut College it bears repeating all students and staff were required, with extremely few exceptions, to get vaccinated before coming to campus for this academic year. Even the all-powerful Dean, in between emailing nitpick pronouncements about which social activities are acceptable, has stated that 99% of the student body is vaccinated. And at 66.9%, Connecticut has the second-highest statewide vaccination rate in the US, behind only Vermont. So what exactly is the endgame here?
This is a crazy story.