After not receiving clear guidance about the COVID-19 policy from anyone else, Zhang resorted to using her own personal judgment and stayed in her dorm as much as possible, only leaving to get food from the dining hall. 

12 out of 54 PCR tests conducted at Health Services were positive in the month of September. Two out of 36 health services tests have been positive thus far in October. However, according to Health Services Medical Director Dr. Jennifer Schwartz, this data may not accurately reflect COVID levels at Wellesley.

“This [data] is just looking at who came into Health Services. I know there’s a large portion of students that don’t use us or didn’t come in,” said Dr. Schwartz. “The numbers are actually probably a lot higher than what we’ve recorded.”

These test results are concurrent with the general COVID trends in the area. COVID increased by about 300 cases in Massachusetts during the last month but has been decreasing in the last two weeks as of Oct. 15.

On Oct. 4, Vice President and Dean of Students Sheilah Shaw Horton sent an email to students acknowledging the current spread of disease, including COVID, on campus. Dean Horton stated that students “learned healthy habits during the pandemic that [they could] use now to stay safe.”

As of March 28, 2024, the College uses the CDC’s suggestions for COVID quarantining policy. No new information regarding COVID-19 related policies has been announced for the 2024-25 school year. The College has a “Keeping Wellesley Healthy” webpage with its public COVID-19 related policies. 

Dr. Schwartz noted that the CDC recommendations are “kind of vague” and is working with Dean Horton to update the webpage. For now, while there is no defined isolation period, CDC guidelines recommend avoiding being around people if one experiences COVID-like symptoms. Once people are fever-free for 24 hours, they do not have to be “isolated” as long as they mask for five days.

Students can book an appointment in Health Services to test for COVID with their rapid PCR machine.

“The PCR test is the more sensitive test, so it can pick COVID up earlier. The rapid tests are not quite as sensitive, especially with these newer strains,” Dr. Schwartz said.

In case students cannot make it to Health Services, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has rolled out free COVID rapid tests that can be ordered online. Students can order four rapid tests to their unit box. Rapid tests are also available for purchase at the bookstore.

While testing is made accessible to students, Health Services currently does not have COVID vaccines for the school year. 

“Our hope was to have COVID vaccines, but because they’re more widely available this year, there’s also a shortage of them. We’re working on it, but the barrier is just the supply chain,” Dr. Schwartz said.

Currently, the nearest place to receive the COVID vaccine is CVS, and an appointment can be booked online. The new vaccines are free “with most insurance.” If students are looking for affordable transportation options, Dr. Schwartz recommended Catch Connect, a discounted ride share service in Wellesley and the surrounding areas. 

Policy Concerns

Even though the pandemic has moved past its peak, some students are concerned about the lack of schoolwide COVID response.

“There’s not really class-wide or college-wide support for people that are being COVID conscious, and so a lot of people have had to rely on smaller communities or smaller orgs on campus to find communities that they feel safe in,” Dylan Bunyak ’27 said.

When Zhang first suspected that she had COVID-19, she struggled to find masks or COVID tests, forcing her to seek roundabout methods.

“Apparently, in my roommate’s CS class, they just have a box of masks in there, so that’s where I got the masks from. I live in the Quint and when I was sick, I really did not want to walk all the way to health services to get a COVID test, so my roommate ended up getting the COVID test for me,” Zhang said.

Members of Students for an Accessible Wellesley (SAW) have also expressed concern over college policies and the lack of administrative attention on COVID support.

“We have a chronic problem where we notice issues on campus, we contact some department and admin about it, and there’s only a small fraction of the time that they even respond to our emails, much less actually agree to help with the problems we’re having,” Esmé Krummel ’25 said.

To support and advocate for COVID-conscious and infected students on campus, SAW created a “Wellesley COVID Action Plan” that included increasing COVID consciousness on campus, meal deliveries, and a testing distribution program.

“Even though the college is following a lot of the CDC guidelines, we feel that the CDC guidelines aren’t particularly representative of the struggles faced by students with chronic illness or students who are immunocompromised and have more of a risk from COVID,” Krummel said.

Minimizing the Spread

As illnesses have been spreading, students – especially those that are immunocompromised – have been advocating for masking on campus.

“Masking is community care,” Bunyak said. “Masking is a very visible sign of support for disabled and immunocompromised sibs on campus.”

Professors also echo this support for masks. Sohie Lee, Professor of Computer Science, noted that while the Department itself does not have a mask policy, the department requested masks from the College, which individual professors have recommended for their own students. All departments can request masks from the College free of charge on the Facilities website. 

SAW members further suggest the importance of professors in relieving the pressures of an illness.

“I think that professors can play a big role in terms of advocating,” SAW member Iris Zhan ’27 said. “People are coming [to class sick] because they feel like they’re going to fall behind. I think professors can also be supportive in the sense of helping people catch up.”

If students are concerned about absences due to illnesses, they should speak to their professors and class dean to work on a compromise.

Zhang also suggests making masks and COVID tests more accessible, especially because the College is not very big.

“I feel like it wouldn’t be that hard to have [masks and tests] in the res halls, in the dining halls, stuff like that,” Zhang said.

Dr. Schwartz said that Health Services is trying to accommodate all students within a timely manner, and that she is always open to suggestions, whether through email or in person. 

With COVID still in the air, flu season in full swing, and other viruses like RSV and the common cold spreading, Dr. Schwartz emphasized the importance of rest for recovery.

“The short of it is, if somebody’s not feeling well, whether it’s COVID or not, I would love them to be empowered to self care and rest,” Dr. Schwartz said.

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Valida Pau, Sazma Sarwar and Lyanne Wang

General Manager of El Table, Gabriela Awad ’23, said that the COVID-19 pandemic changed the nature of El Table. 

“Obviously, the pandemic wasn’t good,” Awad said.  “It’s difficult when you’re not able to access the space that the community is centered around. It hasn’t been easy reopening, and we’re just really glad that we have a community like Wellesley backing us up through all of that.”

According to Awad, El Table has experienced an overwhelming amount of support from Wellesley students within its first couple of weeks of reopening. Rahnuma Aroshi ’25, a new hire at El Table, has felt the busyness of El Table.

“At first I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to deal with [working at El Table] because my first shift was lunch rush,” Aroshi said. “Now that things aren’t as jammed packed as they were at first, I can take my time and learn as I go.” 

According to Awad, El Table has a reputation for being a safe space on campus for QTBIPOC students. Returning El Table employee, Alisha Shahriar ’25, said the environment is something students miss about the co-op. 

“People were happy that things were back,” Shahriar said. “Having that in-person vibe, being able to sit and hang out and have a shared community space.”

El Table is located on the bottom of Founders Hall and is open on weekdays from 9am-3pm.

Starting at 5 p.m., WZLY DJed outside as students, faculty and community members chatted and enjoyed hors d’oeuvres at the tent in the courtyard. With the jovial atmosphere and the excitement of the Davis staff, one would have no idea how difficult the installation of the current special exhibitions was. Just hours prior to opening, Mark Beeman, the manager of exhibitions and collections preparation, and Sarina Kahn-Reddy, the media specialist, were placing the finishing touches on everything.

At 6 p.m., Lisa Fischman, the Ruth Gordon Shapiro ’37 director, gave praise and thanks to those who made the re-opening possible in her opening remarks. She informed visitors of the 15-minute tours from 6:30 to 7:30 that would visit all of the special exhibitions open this fall. She ended with the announcement of the upcoming heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) renovations that will have the museum closed from January 2023 until Spring 2024. These renovations are essential to the preservation of the works in the collection, though the timing is unfortunate since the museum had only reopened in Spring 2022. 

Students who have not visited the Davis yet, or want to visit again, should be sure to stop by from now until Dec. 18. The current special exhibitions are more than worth an afternoon’s visit, and even if you have visited before, some of the permanent collection on display has changed.

The first is Maori artist Lisa Reihana’s “In Pursuit of Venus [Infected].” It is a video installation on the Lower Level of the museum that appropriates and transgresses the imagery present in the early 19th century wallpaper “Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique.” Here, Reihanar centers the Indigenous perspective on colonial contact with Pasifika peoples. The video is projected onto the wall through 5 projectors. It travels from right to left across the screens, yet different scenes are shown simultaneously. This is to favor a Maori conception of a nonlinear passage of time, which formally centers the Indigenous perspective, as well as disrupts the Western historical canon of these events. The result is a surreal viewing experience as sound and visuals travel around you.

On the second floor are three other incredible exhibitions. The first is “Freedom of Expression: African American Printmakers Abroad,” which was curated by Heather Hughes, the former Kemper assistant curator of academic affairs and exhibitions, as well as the Davis’ 2021 summer interns Chloe Pearce ’21, Grey Devlin ’22, Kay Bobb ’23 and Uttkantha Sindhwani ’22. It explores the works of various Black American artists in the early 20th century and the advancements they made to their practice through living and studying abroad.

The second exhibition is “Telling Time: Recent Acquisitions,” curated by Dr. Amanda Gilvin, Sonja Novak Koerner ’51, a senior curator and the assistant director of curatorial affairs. Using works that have entered the collection within the last five years, Dr. Gilvin explores how the historical narrative of art, as well as the narratives behind Wellesley and the field of museums, are shifting in response to current understandings of decolonization. The works vary in size, medium and subject matter, but are still able to address the overarching theme of the exhibition. 

The final special exhibition is “Gold, Glass and Pearls,” which exhibits ancient Mediterranean jewelry from both the Davis collection and Clapp Special Collections. It was curated by Nicole Berlin, the assistant curator of collections, and explores the stories of the jewelry’s creation as well as their usage. Through the use of 3D scanning, there are scans that allow for a 360-degree view of the objects as well as 3D printed copies of some of the jewelry that can be handled by visitors.

In addition to these special exhibitions, there have been changes to the other galleries. On every floor there have been objects swapped out for other pieces in the permanent collections, so even if you have visited before, there are new connections to be made between what is currently on display.