By Katie Goss ’23
Business Manager & News Editor
As students return to in-person classes and campuses across the country, colleges and universities have implemented COVID-19 measures to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff. Mount Holyoke College updated students before the fall semester with new measures to follow — several of which are subject to change depending on the situation in the area and on campus. The other colleges and universities within the Five College Consortium also released their new COVID-19 policies. Although many of the same measures are followed across each of the five campuses, there are some differences between the schools.
Mount Holyoke requires students to get tested twice weekly, as well as faculty and staff to either be tested once or twice weekly, depending on how much time they spend on campus. Tests are first come, first serve, with no appointments necessary. The COVID-19 test results take 24-36 hours to be sent out via email, provided the test comes back either invalid or negative. Should the test result come back positive, the person will be contacted by phone by Health Services and instructed what to do from there.
Smith College, Hampshire College and Amherst College also require students to be tested twice a week, with some minor differences. At Smith, community members must make an appointment to be tested, and it is not a first come, first serve system. Smith may change their testing frequency at the end of October depending on the health status of the community at that time. At Amherst, students are assigned two days every week that they are required to get tested, with the first day being Sunday or Monday and the second day being Wednesday or Thursday. According to the Amherst COVID-19 website, they hope to move to weekly surveillance testing, if possible, after Sept. 13.
The group of Mount Holyoke students currently living on Hampshire’s campus still follow Mount Holyoke’s testing policies. Although they live on Hampshire College’s campus and adhere to Hampshire’s COVID-19 guidelines, which are the same as Mount Holyoke’s, testing and other protocols are still Mount Holyoke’s responsibility.
Ciara Olmstead ’22, a Mount Holyoke student living on Hampshire’s campus, said, “I think that the Hampshire and Mount Holyoke policies are fairly similar, and so I would adhere to both … but because I am a Mount Holyoke student, all of my COVID-19 guidelines are through Mount Holyoke. I do not get any emails from Hampshire at all.”
The University of Massachusetts Amherst does not require its students, faculty and staff to be tested on a regular basis. Only if they have been exposed, develop symptoms or want to be tested can they get a COVID-19 self-test kit at the University Health Services.
All schools within the consortium require face masks when indoors. Although face masks are not required outdoors at any of the schools, each school enforces their mask policy if there is an outdoor event with many people. The only times people are permitted to be unmasked indoors are when they are eating at a dining hall, inside of their residence hall or in a personal office or space alone. At Amherst, students, faculty and staff must either be double-masked or wear a KN95 mask.
Natalie Glick ’23 is currently taking a class at UMass Amherst once a week with six other UMass students. “I don’t really feel uncomfortable because masks are required in the classroom at all times, and my professor does require us to leave the classroom to drink water,” Glick said. “It is a little weird how relaxed people are walking in the hallways without masks on … but I am doing what I can to protect myself and that’s all you can ask for.”
With the exception of Hampshire, outside guests are not allowed within buildings or residence halls at the schools within the consortium. Students living on campus are permitted to enter one another’s rooms if invited. At UMass Amherst, students are only allowed two guests into their room, and they must also be UMass Amherst students.
The Hampshire College COVID-19 information website states, “Current students and employees of the Five Colleges (Smith, Mount Holyoke, and Amherst College, and UMass) are not considered visitors at Hampshire, as all of the institutions are requiring vaccination.”
The guest restriction at Mount Holyoke is set to be lifted on Oct. 8. However, it could be kept in effect if the College deems it necessary.
Travel restrictions also vary across each campus. Mount Holyoke and Hampshire currently have no travel restrictions on where students can travel, including for the upcoming breaks. Until Sept. 14, students at Smith were not allowed to travel outside of Hampshire county unless the travel was organized by a course instructor or for extracurricular activities. They were also asked to avoid engaging in activities where masks would not be worn, such as going to bars and restaurants or attending parties. Through Sept. 13, students at Amherst were limited to only visiting the town of Amherst and were not allowed to go to restaurants or bars. Additionally, they were only allowed to travel to one of the other colleges if attending a class. Otherwise, all other travel had to be approved by the Office of Student Affairs.
According to Amherst’s Information for Students, “It is possible that we will need to place restrictions on student travel during fall break, Oct. 11-12 … It is too early to say whether travel to or from campus during other breaks or events — such as Family Weekend, Homecoming and Thanksgiving — will be impacted.”
With a return to campus life and in-person activities during a pandemic, these measures are subject to change or stay as they are, depending on the situation at each college’s campus and its surrounding community.