ANOTHER QUARANTINE ON CAMPUS: Mathias and South Halls locked down as COVID-19 cases reach double digits

‘It kind of felt like it was coming,’ says one first-year student.

Photo by Colorado College student Bibi Powers-McCormack ’21. 

South Hall resident Jeremy Lewis ’24 narrowly escaped the Loomis Hall quarantine two weeks ago. When he arrived on campus Aug. 16, he was supposed to move into a Loomis single. But hours after checking in and being tested, he heard about the Loomis lockdown, and he moved into a room on the third floor of South instead.

Last week, Lewis and a friend from his orientation group walked around the outside of Loomis with a sign that said “One More Week.” Yesterday, Loomis residents skipped out the front doors of the building after finishing their two-week quarantine. And now for Lewis, quarantine is just beginning.

“It kind of felt like it was coming,” Lewis told The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project. 

One day before the Loomis Hall quarantine ended, Colorado College administrators announced a 14-day quarantine for the other two large dorms on campus — South Hall, next to Shove Chapel, and Mathias Hall, next to the Tutt Science building. 

By Thursday, the college had announced four new positive cases: three in South, and one in Mathias. Early Saturday afternoon, they reported an additional six cases among the two dorms and began the quarantine. The 10 new positive results this week are in related cases, according to the college’s website. 

“We got the email, and it was like, oh my gosh,” quarantined South resident Kelby Kuo ’23 told The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project. “Two of the big three dorms are in quarantine, and that’s basically like over a quarter of the school, which is kind of insane.”

‘We don’t know at all what’s going on’: CC students brace themselves for two weeks of quarantine

Some South and Mathias residents said they found out about the quarantine through the campus-wide email, along with the rest of the college community. 

“No one really knew what was happening until it was announced,” said Ben Carpenter ’23, a Residential Advisor in Mathias, in a phone interview with The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project. “No one knew anything about it before then, and so there was very little time for residents to get prepared for the two weeks of quarantine.”

The immediate response to the quarantine in South was chaotic, according to South resident Annie Seymour ’24. Some students were sitting in the lobby while others tried to spend their last pre-quarantine moments outside, she said.

“Everyone’s kind of just doing their own thing right now, still trying to talk and things like that. Getting groceries, taking out the trash,” Seymour told The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project hours after receiving the quarantine email. “We don’t know at all what’s going on.” 

Seymour said she stocked up on ramen, mac and cheese, chips, and popsicles for her two weeks of quarantine. “Just like unhealthy stuff to make me feel better,” she laughed. 

Like the Loomis residents did, the newly quarantined students will receive daily food deliveries, and though students will also receive mail, the college asks parents to not send packages with food and perishables. Members of a student-led medical squad who are serving as campus contact tracers will check in with the students daily. 

While in quarantine, students must remain alone or with their roommate. They can reserve a timeslot to do their laundry, and they are allowed one hour of supervised outside time each day. Students can be tested again, but because of the 14-day incubation period, they must stay in quarantine regardless of their results, according to the college’s FAQ page. 

“People are working really hard to do everything we can to keep this campus community safe and to support the students,” said Connie Brachtenbach, the college’s lead contact tracer who is also a Campus Safety officer, in a recent interview with The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project. “I know it’s frustrating for people who are either in quarantine or isolation off campus or in quarantine at South and Mathias now, but we’re here — we’re being as responsive as we can be.”

One student, who will remain anonymous to protect medical privacy, tested positive last week. Now they are isolating in Bijou West, one of the college’s supplemental housing options about two miles from campus. The student estimated there are about 25 students isolating and quarantining in Bijou West, with more students there in quarantine for direct exposure than in isolation for testing positive.

The student said they had a fever one night and lost their sense of taste, but other than that it feels like they have a mild cold. They said the food is “really bad,” but since they lost their sense of taste, it’s “less of an issue.” 

They are attending class remotely for the time being, but said other students in isolation at Bijou West have experienced worse symptoms and have been affected more physically and academically.

“I did social distance and follow the rules,” the student said. “I don’t think [parties were] the issue in any of the cases I’ve heard. And by parties, I mean gatherings over 10 — all the gatherings have been under 10,” they later added.

At some colleges and universities, administrators say large student gatherings and off-campus parties are contributing to campus outbreaks. However, in CC’s case, Brachtenbach said the coronavirus is “indiscriminate,” sometimes even if students are following social distancing guidelines and wearing masks. 

“I mean, from my perspective, I think a lot of things went right,” Brachtenbach said. “I know people want to go in the direction of what went wrong, how did this happen, who wasn’t doing what they should’ve been doing, and I’m just not hearing that or seeing that.”

Brachtenbach has been interviewing all campus COVID-19 cases and contacts. When she notifies a contact, Brachtenbach tells them they had contact with a person who has either tested positive for COVID-19 or is probable for COVID-19. She does not mention names to protect medical privacy, following federal confidentiality laws. CC is required to report all positive COVID-19 cases to El Paso County Public Health, and CC administrators made the decision to quarantine South and Mathias Halls in consultation with public health officials, according to Brachtenbach.

“We're just working very closely to try to reduce the risk of the spread of the virus,” Natalie Sosa, Public Information Officer for El Paso County Public Health, told The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project. “We just try to work with, in this case Colorado College, just to make sure that we're reducing the spread of the disease and that we're providing the best recommendations and information to be able to do that."

Drive without stopping: Students may leave campus to quarantine at home

The college said students could quarantine at home for the two weeks — an option they also offered the Loomis residents — under specific parameters. Students can leave if a relative or other responsible adult comes to drive them home, but they are not allowed to fly or take any other public transportation during their quarantine or isolation period. Mathias Residential Advisor Logan Henning ’22 estimated between one-third and one-half of Mathias residents are quarantining off campus. 

Additionally, family members are only permitted to pick up their student if the drive can be made without stopping. The college will also allow a family member to quarantine with their student in a hotel in El Paso County. According to Rochelle Dickey, the acting Dean of Students and acting Vice President for Student Life, if a student chooses to return to campus after a home quarantine, the college will test them again for the coronavirus upon re-entry. 

“A lot of people are trying to figure out if they’re going to go home, or what’s going to happen,” Seymour said a few hours after receiving the email. “I’m still trying to decide. I’m probably just going to end up staying here and suffering through it.” She noted that her mom was considering flying out to stay in a hotel room with her but decided it wouldn’t be much better, and Seymour wants to remain on campus with everyone else. 

Another South resident, Mai Nguyen ’24, is quarantining at home near Denver. She had a car on campus and drove home Saturday afternoon after receiving permission from her Residential Life Coordinator and Maggie Santos, the college’s COVID-19 Emergency Manager. As lead contact tracer, Brachtenbach said she is trying to emphasize to students that just because they are leaving campus doesn’t mean they are exempt from fulfilling quarantine or isolation requirements.

“When I was walking out to my car, a lot of cars were lining up around the South parking area, so … a decent amount of people are going home,” Nguyen said. 

Nguyen was sprayed down with disinfectant when she entered her home, and is now quarantining in her room. She’ll use a separate bathroom from the rest of her family, and her mom will deliver food daily. Nguyen’s parents are immunocompromised, and her whole family is keeping their distance.

Despite the risks, Nguyen didn’t want to be quarantined on campus alone. She has a single room on campus, so it would be lonely to stay there for the two weeks, she said. 

“My mom brings me food,” Nguyen said. “I find that more comforting than a stranger bringing me food to my room. There’s a familiar feeling that I want during this time.” 

Remote classes, indoor workouts, and Xbox games. Preparing for life in the quaran-dorms. 

Last week, Seymour and her roommate alternated who had the room for class each day, with the other person going outside to use Zoom. One day they tried both attending their classes in the room, but they often were speaking at the same time in breakout groups. “And that’s really just confusing,” Seymour said. They haven’t yet figured out how the two will deal with class time while quarantining in the same room together. 

As a sophomore, Kuo had always planned to take her class online this block. She is currently in a lab class, so she’s been doing miniature labs in her room with a kit the school sent her. 

Other than attending class and completing schoolwork, some students said they will spend some of their free time playing video games. Other students said they will finally get caught up on their Netflix shows. As a forward on the women’s soccer team, Kuo plans to exercise in her room now that team workouts are on hold because about half the team is in quarantine, Kuo said.  

Lewis’s friends in Loomis have been encouraging him by saying that if they could make it through the quarantine, the students in Mathias and South will too. He’s excited to be at CC, but needless to say, this isn’t what he was expecting.

“Everything that I’ve been doing, at least for the past couple of years, ever since I knew I wanted to go to college, has been leading up to this,” Lewis said. “And now I’m here, and it’s hard to leave this mindset, where like I’ve wanted to go to college, and now I’m here, and it’s not what it should have been.”

CC administrators held a Zoom meeting Saturday evening for Mathias and South residents to give more information about the quarantine and answer questions. Carpenter said students asked a lot of questions about whether the campus will remain open, and how the quarantine may affect the college’s plans to bring all students back to campus starting Block 2. Administrators responded that the college will reexamine plans, according to Carpenter.

“There’s definitely people talking about the school getting closed, which is really scary, ... so that’s going to be in the back of my mind for the next couple of weeks,” Lewis said. “I’m kind of going to be anticipating it. Hopefully it doesn’t happen, and hopefully CC can adjust, because I don’t think we can go the whole year with different dorms getting shut down.”

This newsletter required all hands on deck. Special thanks to Colorado College students Heather Rolph and Esteban Candelaria for contributing to this report.

About the CC COVID-19 Reporting Project

The CC COVID-19 Reporting Project is created by Colorado College student journalists Miriam Brown, Arielle Gordon, and Isabel Hicks, in partnership with The Catalyst, Colorado College’s student newspaper. Work by Phoebe Lostroh, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology at CC and National Science Foundation Program Director in Genetic Mechanisms, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, will appear from time to time, as will infographics by Colorado College students Rana Abdu, Aleesa Chua, Sara Dixon, Jia Mei, and Lindsey Smith.

The project seeks to provide frequent updates about CC and other higher education institutions during the pandemic by providing original reporting, analysis, interviews with campus leaders, and context about what state and national headlines mean for the CC community. 

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