COVID-19 at Marquette From an RA’s Perspective
3/9/2021 — Charlie Waitkus
The halls are silent, the doors are closed and the most movement one will see is students coming or going from their last class. This is the scene in Marquette’s Carpenter Tower dorm. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the once community-feeling space to a ghost of its former self.
This view is all-to-familiar in most Marquette public places. The once-packed library and on-campus coffee shops feel empty in comparison to previous non-COVID semesters.
The main reason for the seeming lack of use is caused by the enforced 6 feet social distancing policy at Marquette. On top of social distancing, masks are required in all public places. This has made it difficult to read facial expressions and interact with friends and teachers as normal. One person who understands this struggle more than most is Miles Guillen.
Guillen is a Resident Advisor (RA) at Carpenter Tower. He was brought in from the alternate pool after the previous RA graduated last December.
“I was really excited off the bat,” Miles said. “It was really something I was bummed about not getting last year and when I saw the email, I was absolutely ecstatic and told my parents.”
The alternate pool is for RA candidates that don’t make the initial cut to be RA’s. However, they are then placed onto a list for when a spot becomes available.
Some of Guillen’s responsibilities include keeping up with his residents through floor and one-on-one meetings as well as planning floor activities. He is also required to be on duty at least once a week. This requires him to be available for any residents that may need his assistance, as well as for dorm emergencies or potential legal matters.
Guillen, at the time of writing this article, is a rare case as far as RA’s go, as his only experience of the job has been with the presence of COVID-19. Although this might be the case, he mentioned he still feels the difference between the position before and during COVID-19.
“Pre-COVD times were a lot different in terms of how much interaction I could have with (my residents),” Guillen explained. “(The) lounge is where we would have our floor meetings and I could bring pizza… I can’t (do that) because it has to be individually packaged.”
Social distancing, cloth face masks and the lack of shared food aren’t the only things making the sense of community hard to find.
As per Marquette’s Office of Residence Life website, “No external visitors to your residence hall are allowed to be checked into the building. Students can host up to 2 guests maximum per room from within their same residence hall during visitation hours.”
More information about Marquette’s Office of Residence Life’s “Policies and Procedures” can be found on this webpage.
With all those parameters, Guillen said he has felt the effects that they’ve caused to his job.
“(The biggest change is) the sense of community that could be created with group activities. (I miss) community nights being more interactive and seeing people’s faces.”
Even with all these provisions and safety measures, COVID-19 is still causing issues within the Marquette community. On Saturday, Mar. 6, the third floor of O’Donnell Hall was moved to a local hotel after a confirmed cluster of COVID-19 cases were detected.
Though Guillen is not directly connected to the O’Donnell outbreak, he said he empathizes with the RA’s in the hall.
“I’m sure it’s tough having to maneuver move-outs and that whole process has to be frustrating and complicated,” Guillen said. “I wish I (knew more) so I could be more helpful.”
Despite these recent events, Marquette’s COVID-19 positive case numbers have remained lower than the first month and a half of last semester. As of Mar. 9, there have only been 126 cases among Marquette students, faculty, and staff. Last semester, there were 135 positive cases by this point.
Guillen stated despite all this adversity, it isn’t keeping him from floor involved in community activities.
“We’ve played Kahoot the first (night) and (we’re going to play) Among Us next week.” Both of these activities are online and can be played from resident’s rooms.
As the one year anniversary of COVID-19 approaches, the light at the end of the tunnel is becoming more visible. Vaccines are being rolled out to more Americans and Marquette has entered Step 4 of their Five-Step Recovery Plan.
This light has not gone unnoticed, and Guillen remains optimistic for the future.
“I’m glad that we are starting to see improvement with the vaccines being distributed and everything. It really feels like everything is starting to get better and I’m excited to get back to normalcy in society and on campus.”
