A 12 August Op-Ed piece was published in The New York Times with the headline: “Don’t Make College Kids the Coronavirus Police.” The article, co-authored by Dr. Karen Levy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Science at Cornell Law School, and her doctoral candidate Lauren Kilgour, begins, “Many universities are asking students to wear masks and avoid parties – and to report on peers who break the rules. It could backfire.”
A number of colleges are actively advertising “hotlines” so students can rat out party goers and those not wearing masks while maintaining anonymity. At the University of Kentucky, students can dial 859-218-SAFE.
Bye, Bye Bourbon Street
At Tulane University in New Orleans, an urgent letter to incoming students from Dean of Students Erica Woodley was posted on the school’s web site. In all caps, the letter begins: “DO NOT HOST PARTIES OR GATHERINGS WITH MORE THAN 15 PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE HOST. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL FACE SUSPENSION OR EXPULSION FROM THE UNIVERSITY.”
The letter continues, “Hold your friends and peers accountable and reach out when you need help with that. You can report problematic behavior by using our online report system. These reports are received in real time. You can also call the Tulane University Police at 504-865-5381.”
At New York University (NYU), ranked the 9th “most liberal” college in the country by Niche.com, the administration is actively recruiting students and staff members to report any student parties or other COVID violations by emailing covidcompliance@nyu.edu.
There has been some pushback, however, against the New ABnormal college dictates.
Christine Harrington, Professor of Political Science at NYU, compared the call to turn in partygoers and/or students walking around without masks to the way secret police were used in communist East Germany: “It’s like going into your bedroom. It’s a matter of privacy. We could go and social distance and pull our masks down and somebody could take a video of us. You are not free outside.”
Sarah Van Orman, Chief Health Officer at USC, stated, “Institutions have to empathize with what we’re asking students to give up. These measures themselves are not without consequences: disrupted education, emotional and social isolation.”
Dr. Karen Levy and her post doctorate student Lauren Kilgore from Cornell Law School point out, “Deputizing students to police their peers threatens to disrupt the interpersonal dynamics of student life, while also creating conditions to displace blame onto students should outbreaks occur. Universities need to be mindful of how peer surveillance systems might be misused, how they might burden different groups of students and the damage they may do to community trust.”
TRENDPOST: Whether it’s fellow students snitching on classmates, neighbors calling police to break up gatherings, or fights breaking out in stores or on the street between mask and no-mask wearers… under the New ABnormal, facts, science, and hard data are irrelevant. Obeying the rules and laws their leaders declare are what’s most relevant.
