Campus livened up Saturday as St. Thomas students began moving in their belongings to campus housing, in a different fashion than usual amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some students expressed concerns about the pandemic and how it may impact on-campus living in the near future, but others are just glad to be on campus.
“I’m very concerned about moving in and then a week later getting sent home,” first-year Sydney Pahl, a Tommie North resident, said. “It’s not how I would expect, but I’m glad I get to do it.”
Move-in, but not move-yourself-in
Tommie residents are not moving in permanently yet — they were only able to move in their belongings to their residence hall. Each student received a two hour block between Saturday, August 29 and Friday, Sept. 4 to move in their belongings to campus. Students will then be able to move in permanently on Friday, Sept. 4, with fall meal plans beginning the following Saturday.
“I think that having people gradually move in is probably for the best,” sophomore Kate Ostaffe, a resident in Tommie East, said.
Ostaffe did not agree with not being able to permanently move in after moving in your belongings, however.
“It doesn’t really make a ton of sense,” she said.
After St. Thomas moved to all-online classes last March, all resident students, with certain exceptions, were booted out of their dorms.
Sophomore Mark Neuman, a resident adviser in Tommie East, hopes students move into campus with some flexibility.
“The situation is ever-changing,” Neuman said, who also advised students to “come in with a positive attitude so that we can make the best out of the current situation.”
Students moving in were welcomed with two new residence halls: Tommie North and Tommie East.
Tommie North
Tommie North is a new residence hall on the northeast corner of campus where John Paul II Hall formerly stood. This hall is a co-ed dormitory which will be home to first-year students.
The new hall features Northsider, a new dining hall opening Sept. 5 featuring various different stations and “forward-facing cooking,” along with a G8 station, an enclosed space that only those with food allergies or intolerances will be able to enter, which are free of the eight most common food allergens: wheat, peanuts, eggs, milk, soybeans, nuts, fish and shellfish.
Tommie North also contains a small convenience store next door to Northsider called “Corner Market,” where students can grab a quick drink or snack on-the-go.
Dorms in Tommie North are set up in “clusters,” with two clusters making up what is called a “pod.” Each cluster houses up to 18 students in nine double bedrooms, with each cluster sharing communal bathrooms and showers. Each pod is single-gendered.
Tommie East
Tommie East is the new residence hall hosting sophomores and older, standing in the former location of the Faculty Residence on the east side of North Campus.
The top three floors of Tommie East have two pods, and are single gender by pod. The second floor has one pod.
Each pod contains six or seven clusters, each consisting of two to four double bedrooms sharing one or two bathrooms. Each cluster has its own door and hallway and a shared closet space.
Tommie North and Tommie East rooms, along with the recently remodeled Ireland Hall, have contactless card readers where students use their student IDs to enter their rooms and clusters. The newly-issued student IDs have technology that will allow students to “tap” into rooms instead of swiping.
Neuman spoke positively of the new dorms.
“They are amazing,” Neuman said. “I’m extremely grateful to be able to work in Tommie East and they are a great addition to campus.”
No guests, for now
Once students are moved into the new dorms, guests from on or off campus will not be allowed into the residence halls, and students will only have access to their own residence hall as a COVID-19 precaution.
This move was announced in a Residence Life email to resident students Monday, Aug. 24.
“It is our sincere hope that we can become flexible with our guest policy as the semester moves on,” the email said. “We believe that limiting opportunities for exposure to the virus at the beginning of the semester will benefit our campus community in the long run.”
Residence Life suggested that students wanting to visit friends from other residence halls should visit in common spaces, such as the Anderson Student Center, and hopes students “take advantage of our beautiful outdoor spaces.”
After move-in, family members wanting to visit students must coordinate their visits in common spaces on campus as well.
Classes begin for the fall semester Wednesday, Sept. 9.
Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.
Song Johansen can be reached at song.johansen@stthomas.edu.