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WHAT’S HAPPENING AT APP STATE For those of you who live outside NC or outside western NC, please know what’s going on at one of our universities.
Note: I’m a journalist, but I do not live in Boone or the western part of the state. If you want to dive deeper into this, follow the students over at @TheAppalachian or the local journalists at @WataugaDemocrat.
For background: Appalachian State, located in the small mountain town of Boone, NC, is the 5th largest school in the 16-institution UNC System. Originally established as a teaching college, the school was one of several to join the system in 1971, and continues to grow.
Before classes even started, the faculty senate announced they’d be holding a “vote of no confidence” for their chancellor, Sheri Everts. The vote was over the decision to push forward with in-person housing and classes, and passed on Aug 17. http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2020/08/17/app-state-faculty-votes-no-confidence-in-chancellor-sheri-everts/
App started class the same day as this vote, and the same day @UNC, the flagship of the system, announced its plan to transition to remote learning. Shortly after, @NCState and @EastCarolina followed. @unccharlotte started out remote.
App, however, has carried on. They updated their dashboard to be “better,” despite leaving out some things they promised. Until October 1, when UNCC began letting some students return, App was the largest school in the system still operating in-person. http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2020/08/24/app-state-launches-new-covid-19-dashboard-minus-promised-enhancements/
Also in the midst of this, students in the predominantly white school protesting for Black Lives Matter were arrested by campus police. https://theappalachianonline.com/black-at-app-state-requests-apology-from-chancellor-after-protest-shows-support-for-plemmons-voting-site/ https://twitter.com/sara__pequeno/status/1300551354348437506
On September 28, 19-year-old Chad Dorrill, an otherwise healthy student who’d played basketball in high school, died of COVID-19 complications. Afterward, the school released a statement, but didn’t cancel classes (or take a “pause” mid-semester). https://www.wataugademocrat.com/news/appalachian-state-student-dies-with-covid-19/article_ba666c57-fac9-576e-aa20-e0396bd2893b.html
Someone else who released a statement was UNC System President Peter Hans, saying Chad had so much life ahead. The month prior, he blamed then outbreak of COVID-19 on students (albeit a “small group”). https://indyweek.com/news/northcarolina/peter-hans-blames-students/ https://twitter.com/sara__pequeno/status/1311404628756631552
On October 1, the school announced seven new clusters and more cases on the school football team. The same day, all fraternities were banned from doing anything for two weeks. The school continued in-person classes. https://www.wataugademocrat.com/covid19/seven-new-covid-19-clusters-identified-at-app-state-19-new-cases-associated-with-football/article_be58526e-3812-5b87-9e54-427e9666dc67.html
All the while, cases in Watauga County, which is over 25% students, saw their cases per 100,000 residents shoot up. There’s one hospital in the county. And now, colder temps are on the way, which could mean a huge spike in cases (again). https://public.tableau.com/profile/benjamin.renton#!/vizhome/Covid-19inCollegeTowns/Main
The last time I compared numbers, App just barely had a higher number of cases than UNC the day they announced remote instruction. Currently they have over 200 active cases, but @TheAppalachian reported one site ran out of tests this weekend. https://theappalachianonline.com/rivers-street-testing-site-runs-out-of-covid-19-tests/ https://twitter.com/sara__pequeno/status/1311468699908481024
This is exactly what student activists said would happen: while @UNC and @NCState, both with wealthy alumni and national recognition, closed quickly, other UNC System schools have been left behind, and students and the greater communities are the ones suffering.
