Sacred Heart Dorms Quarantined

On Thursday, Nov. 5, the Coronavirus Planning Team announced that Seton and Bergoglio Halls would be placed on a 14-day quarantine. The two dorms had a total of 24 COVID-19 cases.

Students were told they could only leave their rooms for bathroom breaks or to pick up food.

Along with this announcement, the Coronavirus Planning Team stated that Sacred Heart’s alert status would be changed from orange to red.

“Once we entered the quarantine, there were a large number of residents in Bergoglio who decided very quickly to leave for the semester. Overall, the process of the quarantine and residents checking out has gone very smoothly,” said Beth Anne Voight-Jause, Associate Residential Life Director in Bergoglio Hall.

The majority of students in both buildings decided to go home and quarantine there.

“My RSAs and I had many plans for the last few weeks of the semester to finish it on a high note for the residents and were disappointed to have to cancel everything,” said Voight-Jause. “The RSAs have continued to do their jobs by virtually checking in with the residents still here and being on duty every night.”

Even though the transition to quarantine has been going smoothly, some students have been left without roommates and are alone for the two-week period.

“For those students that are still here, the building is pretty empty, and most of them are alone in their rooms because their roommate(s) have made the decision to go home. Since they aren’t supposed to be interacting in each other’s rooms, I worry that some of them could get lonely over the remainder of the quarantine,” said Emily Grobmyer, Residence Hall Director of Seton Hall.

Throughout the duration of quarantine, Grobmyer has assured students that RSAs are there to support them and are great resources if they are feeling lonely.

“RSAs are still reaching out to their residents over the remainder of the semester and are still a resource for residents, regardless of whether they are home or in Seton,” stated Grobmyer. “This definitely wasn’t the way any of us wanted the semester to end, but we will make the best of it. Our students’ safety and health is the most important thing.”

The quarantined students are expected to leave quarantine Nov. 19. At the end of the 14-day period, some will go home and finish the semester online, just like the students who have already done so.

“Many students made the choice to go home for the two weeks, and once the school announced it was moving to online classes, many more students made the choice to go home for the rest of the semester,” said Grobmyer.

About the author

Staff Writer

Leave a Reply