New Albertus Magnus College students began moving into their residence areas Tuesday with the goal of “not letting Covid stop my life,” as freshman Avlin Mayers, 17, put it.
Forty-three new students moved in Tuesday. Students stopped at Tagliatela Academic Center for a Covid-19 test, then the Hubert Campus Center for check in, then their new home away from home Dominican Hall to unpack and get settled for the school year.
First-year and transfer students from the incoming class of more than 200 students moved into the residence areas with assigned move-in times. Albertus’s housing capacity is 350 students with an additional elimination of some triple and quad occupancies to reduce density. Albertus started offering students an on-campus option for Covid testing last week, free of charge.
Undergraduate classes begin on Aug. 31. Upon move-in all students will receive Albertus-branded PPE kits including masks and hand sanitizer.
Freshman Matthew Looney, 18 (top photo), moved his bedroom items into his third-floor dorm on Tuesday. But he was then required to leave the campus and return home to East Haven to self-quarantine while waiting 24 hours for his Covid test results.
Looney and his family submitted test results to the school last week. But when they arrived for move-in Tuesday were informed that he had taken an antibody test rather than the required PCR test and therefore could not stay on campus until a negative test result comes back.
Mathew Looney with parents.
Looney moved in with his parents and grandmother Tuesday. His parents took the day off from work Tuesday to send Matthew off. The required Covid test changed those plans. Instead, Matthew will return to campus Wednesday with his grandmother Ellen Looney, who will Facetime his grandfather State Sen. Martin Looney and his parents to virtually send him off.
Matthew, who has type 1 diabetes, said he is looking forward to the semester despite its adjustments.
“I’m scared to death but I know he’s very safe and takes the virus serious,” said his mother Dandien Cumming. “If there’s any kind of problem he will leave campus.”
Albertus will host face-to-face, hybrid, and online learning options designed to adhere to guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), the State of Connecticut, and city health department.
Face-to-face classes will be held until Nov. 20. Then residential students will return home for the Thanksgiving break, then the remaining semester remotely. Traditional semester breaks for the Labor Day and Columbus Day holidays will be canceled. Classes will continue to avoid travel exposure to Covid.
Class sizes will be reduced 50 percent. Most classrooms will have the option of video conferencing to allow students attending a class session remotely to join the students on campus. The school’s plan for fall 2020 semester safety can be found here.
As students moved in Tuesday, they parked outside of the building’s front entrance and were offered a moving bin to collect their items in and bring to their dorms. One person was allowed in the elevator at a time while others took the stairs.
Mayers (pictured) has lived in Conneticut for about three years. She attended Shelton High School and moved into Dominican Hall Tuesday with her mom and grandmother.
Mayers, a psychology major, moved onto the second floor and will meet her roommate on Wednesday. Her biggested concern with living on a college campus amidst a pandemic was the shared bathrooms.
“I couldn’t wait for today because I missed all the main events in high school like prom and I couldn’t graduate with all my friends. So I least want the college experience,” she said.
Parent Arnold Graham said he plans to call his daughter daily be be sure the school remains safe throughout the semester. “I’m scared shitless, but she really wanted this. And she deserves something normal,” he said.
Mayor Justin Elicker and Albertus President Marc Camille (pictured)welcome new students.
New students that tested and are awaiting test results left campus to wait for the results. International students and students who live more than three hours away are placed in a quarantined area on campus awaiting their results to officially move into open residence areas.
Registered Nurse Elena Tamayo-Heitz said so far about half of the undergraduate students opted to get tested on campus.
During the semester a random sample of 5 to 10 percent of the residential population, including staff in residence halls, and a random 5 to 10 percent of our commuter students will be tested weekly. Those being tested will be required to self-collect samples by swabbing each nostril three times.
Raven, a transfer student from Gateway Community College, was among the students moving in to Albertus on Tuesday. Her mother Gabriella said she asked her daughter for a 100th time last night if she was sure about living on campus. Gabriella said Raven begged her parents to live on campus this fall, and presented them with research about the school’s safety protocol. “It sucks she couldn’t get the normal experience, but as long as she’s safe, we’re happy,” said father Nick Lewis.
