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Emerson to rent most of the W Hotel for student housing; says it will tell any students who show up with Covid-19 symptoms to go back home
By adamg on Wed, 08/05/2020 - 11:20pm
Emerson College says it wants to rent nine of the currently shuttered W Hotel's eleven floors as part of its Covid-19 "de-densification" plans.
In a filing with the BPDA, the college says that all students arriving on campus this fall will have to first check into Tufts Medical Center for a Covid-19 test. Any students who show up at Tufts and report potential Covid-19 symptoms will be given a test that promises results within four hours - and if the results come back positive will be "encouraged" to turn around and go back where they came from. The school says that if students have no way to get back home, they will be offered space in a quarantine dorm the school is setting up; the proposal does not address the issue of sending people with positive Covid-19 tests back through public spaces and transport.
Symptomless students will then be assigned their room, where they will have to wait until they get results back within 48 hours. Students who get back positive results from these tests will be given a room in the school's Paramount dorm, which is being converted into use for quarantining.
In addition to their check-in test, students will then be required to go to Tufts once a week for a new Covid-19 test - and to fill out a daily symptom checklist.
Emerson says its agreement with the W will mean beds for 216 students - 208 regular students and 8 resident assistants. The school says it also plans to rent additional space in the hotel and in the nearby Park Plaza Hotel for use as a total of five new classrooms. A sixth classroom would also be placed in the Colonial Theatre.
None of the students at the W will be allowed to have guests in their rooms, on pain of being brought up for disciplinary proceedings, the college says, adding they will be required to wear a mask whenever they leave their rooms. No maid service will be provided, although the hotel will clean individual bathrooms once a week - and sanitize public spaces hourly.
Emerson says it needs the off-campus dorm space partly because it has turned all of its existing triple dorms into doubles, which eliminates about 118 beds and because it is converting its 260-bed Paramount dorm into quarantine space for students who test positive or show symptoms during the semester.
Emerson needs approval of both the BPDA and ISD for the plan.
Complete Emerson filing (4.3M PDF).
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Comments
Who designed this process?
It rewards dumb and irresponsible college students who want to on-campus to try to keep their symptoms secret.
Incompetent policy like that is how you get pandemics. And perpetuate them.
All the schools trying to reopen, against the pleas of the faculty, so that they can reap that sweet, overpriced tuition money should face criminal charges and civil liability that will wipe out the schools completely.
"that will wipe out the schools completely."
So wont staying closed for an entire year. Not every college/Uni is Harvard with a $B balance sheet.
who want to on-campus to try to keep their symptoms secret?
Huh?
Did you read the article?
If Emerson doesn't have students on campus-in classrooms--they close--for good.
Campus cops
When universities and colleges lease hotels for their students do the campus police have jurisdiction in the hotels?
Yes, their Police Powers
Yes, their Police Powers apply to all property Owned, Used or Occupied by the College or University.
police or security
A hotel is private building is difrent juridition ,is not public like side walk or st. that can give
you a ticket. police can investigate if they received a complained from the hotel deparment
security.
to check is everything is ok.
Thank you.
?
"None of the students at the W will be allowed to have guests in their rooms, on pain of being brought up for disciplinary proceedings"
Emerson is a school for extroverts. It is not exactly the Emily Dickinson School for Poetry and Spending Time Alone. How are they going to keep these nice young upper middle class kids and children of medium media stars down?
Ain't going to happen.
Looking at the filing
Looking at the filing document, it's the same as what Northeastern is doing with on-campus housing, as I'm sure most (hopefully all) other schools are doing. No one who isn't living in the building is allowed into the building.
What is stopping the students
What is stopping the students who live in the same dorm from partying together? Northeastern has a dorm 22 stories tall. They can easily gather closely and party without having to let outsiders come in.
And do we really think elevators are going to be socially distanced? It will take 45 minutes (no joke because in normal peak times it could take 20 minutes) to get on an elevator. The stairs aren't an option if you're on the highest floors.
Actually...
I am an introvert. And I went to Emerson to study writing. For myself (and many others) Emerson was "The Emily Dickinson School for Poetry and Spending Time Alone".
You're 25 years behind the
You're 25 years behind the times. This Emerson isn't the one that used to run on Beacon Street. Whole different kind of kid.
Great
Ok, so Emerson can't support it's students if they get sick, so they've decided they're "Someone else's problem". Back on the Green Line/Uber/Plane home kids!
When someone gets a positive result, they shouldn't be going ANYWHERE, not even in the U-Haul back to New Jersey, assuming that Dad manages not to Storrow it on the way.
If Emerson doesn't have a way to quarantine all of their students, they have no way to open this fall.
Agreed. This seems like the
Agreed. This seems like the exact opposite behavior the state is trying to use as its virus containment plan, if you test positive you should be be placed in supportive isolation, not just hit the eject button and jettison them back into society via public transportation.
How can the state and city allow this kind of policy?
Read the freaking article!
"if the results come back positive will be "encouraged" to turn around and go back where they came from. The school says that if students have no way to get back home, they will be offered space in a quarantine dorm the school is setting up"
Remember, Adam is paraphrasing and adding his own unique tone... eyebrows raised, here.
So...
...are these kids supposed to be lugging their luggage and all their worldly possessions up and down Boylston Street until they're assigned a dorm or hotel room or possibly sent home? Or maybe I'm missing something?