Dispatch from an Empty Campus: Quarantine and Cry

*Editor’s note: The following is a brief series of notes and observations from a student left on campus during quarantine.

Each time you go out for a run, walk your dog, what do you see? A ghost town? No. That is nothing when you look at what has become of SLU’s campus.
From having over two thousand students on campus, to 150 in under a week, SLU has quickly become the embodiment of a ghost town.
As students rushed to get home for spring break (and later quarantine), people left behind pieces of themselves, be it physical things or just memories.
In under two days, the once lively campus died.
It was not too bad the first couple days. Until Cuomo hit, and with good reason.
To prevent the spread of infection, New York State issued this statement: “All unessential business must be closed…gyms, movie theaters, bars and restaurants in the state will shut down.” SLU had no other choice but to follow suit.
Yes, quarantine is bad, but imagine having it with bad food and worse weather. The second Dana became “to-go,” any aspect of “gourmet” campus had to offer went out the window.
Less than one percent of the student body was on campus, which meant there were less people to cook for. Yet, the food lost all taste.
We, as a student body, have always had issues with Dana. Now, imagine being depressed and having even worse food: it was not cute.
Likewise, the weather did not help. We all know spring in Canton, New York is impossible to predict. That did not prevent us from being bitter through it all.
One day it was 60, the next 40. The first couple of days, that seemed to be the range. But that changed the second classes started.
For over two hours it felt like proper spring. It was warm enough to be in short sleeves. It was lovely. The next day? Snow.
Now, we can blame it all on Global Warming™ (and you should), but I would also like to bring up that argument that the earth is just out to get us–I do not blame her for it.

Along with unsavory food and unstable weather, SLU decided to decorate.
“DOING YOUR PART MEANS STAYING SIX FEET APART”
Posters all around the Student Center, Dana, and all the residence halls proclaimed the same motto for social distancing.
Sometimes a change in scenery, as simple as a new poster can brighten up the mood, these did no such thing.
Amongst the motto posters, there were a couple depicting how to best wash your hands, symptoms associated with the virus, and others that you have probably seen on Facebook.
Although it was just 150 of us, we still found a way to meme them. It made their presence much more enjoyable.
Every day more students left campus, and every day it got a little harder to stay.

After two weeks and President Fox’s announcement to fully end the semester and do virtual learning, the last of us made our decisions.
Sometimes, staying on campus is fun. All alone, only you and your memories of the place. But for once, I regretted my memories.
I write this sitting in an airport waiting for my flight to board and I have come to the conclusion that maybe SLU was not the biggest ghost town. That award goes to airports.

But what SLU was during the weeks of quarantine was not cute.