Simmons University Should Not Re-open in the Fall

Editorial: Written before Simmons University made the announcement that they will be in-person in Fall 2021.

As the second school year affected by a global pandemic comes to a close, schools are forced to consider if they are going to fully re-open in the fall. With Simmons being a school that is currently only allowing a small proportion of students to be on campus, students are anxiously awaiting the decision from the school for their plans for Fall 2021.

As for Simmons University’s plan for the fall they should not do a full re-opening in the fall for several reasons that not only affect the students but the institution as a whole.

Simmons is in the center of the medical hub of Boston and with that comes more difficulty when it comes to fully re-opening. The majority of students who have been allowed back on campus are nursing students who need to be on the ground for labs and seeing patients. Since Simmons has a large population of nursing students - handing out 171 bachelor’s degrees in nursing in 2019 - it is fair to assume a majority of students will be in direct contact with the virus and then be navigating around campus through in-person learning.

The vaccine distribution also poses logistical nightmares. The vaccine is received in multiple doses and Simmons will have to keep a detailed log of who receives the vaccinations and when. The majority of undergraduate students who are outside of the nursing discipline will most likely receive the vaccine in the final phase, and because of distribution issues in the state of Massachusetts in particular, the intended date of the final phase of vaccine distribution is unclear.

Simmons is unique from schools that have reopened because our physical campus is confined to one city block that it shares with a high school - not to mention being surrounded by two other colleges as well as being adjacent to a major museum. This increases the amount of foot traffic in an already confined area. Unlike bigger institutions where people can spread out to properly social distance, Simmon’s (which has had issues with accommodating everyone pre-pandemic) small physical campus would make social distancing impossible.

Some students argue they are missing out on their college experience. But, even if the campus were to re-open fully, it would not be the typical college experience. There would be severe restrictions. At other universities, students are confined to their small dorm rooms and resources would have to be expanded to ensure testing is available to the entire student body. Also the possibility that a spike of cases on campus will cause the university to go in lockdown and send students home again which would be especially difficult for out-of-state and international students who would have to put up the cost of moving.

Simmons is not ready or equipped to handle these issues. Simmons should make the responsible decision to not fully re-open in the fall.