Ohio State move-in day comes with lots of questions, no football

COLUMBUS — As Esther Achebumere's family pulled up their minivan to the stone courtyard outside Park-Stradley Hall at Ohio State University, a move-in volunteer greeted them with enthusiasm. "Hello! Welcome to OSU!," the volunteer said, his voice bellowing throughout the otherwise quiet plaza. On a typical Ohio State move-in day, his voice would have gotten lost in a cacophony of car doors slamming, move-in helpers swarming SUVs ready to lend a hand, students hugging their peers after summers apart, of big bins full of new bedding and laundry baskets and book bags rolling across the campus sidewalks and up to dorm rooms. But like so much else during the COVID-19 pandemic, the first day of student move-in was anything but typical. Nearly 12,000 students are expected to move to campus before classes start Aug. 25. In a normal year, most of those students would move in during a two-day period the weekend before classes began. But this year, after the pandemic shuttered residence halls and canceled in-person classes in the spring, those students will move in over a 12-day period, each assigned an hour-long time slot to encourage physical distancing and limit crowding during the process. Students were told to bring just one or two people with them, and volunteers wouldn't be helping them carry anything to their rooms this year. Achebumere, an 18-year old biology major from the North Side, is apprehensive about all the COVID-19-related guidelines and rules in place as she begins her academic career at Ohio State, but is grateful to be on campus. "I'm most nervous about the classes," she said, noting most of hers are online this semester. "But I'm excited to be in college, like, the college experience." About 75 students were expected to move in at each Smith-Steeb and Park-Stradley halls on South Campus on this day, said Ohio State spokesman Dave Isaacs. Eighteen-year old Mason Bell was one of them. He rolled his university-provided bins full of his belongings into Smith-Steeb hall with hope and excitement Wednesday morning. "I'm pretty optimistic," said the 18-year-old pharmaceutical sciences major from Dover in eastern Ohio. "I'm hoping we're gonna be able to stay down here for as long as they're telling us we're going to be able to." The past five months have brought "one disappointment after another," said Bell's mother, Tonya Bell. Her Ohio State freshman is one of three 18-year-old triplets. A beautiful prom gown hangs in her daughter Shaina's closet, unworn. Her children didn't get to walk across the stage at the Dover High School football field for graduation. And Wednesday, she helped her son move into his residence hall wearing an Ohio State-themed mask. "It's a little disappointing in ways, like his expectations that he's had for so many years," she said, stopping to search for the words. "It's not living up to his expectations, because of the whole corona thing ... you know, no football, and you know mom can't spend the day down here with him today, just things like that, little things." Sophomore Amanya Paige, 19, knows this school year will be different, she said as she moved in to Smith-Steeb Hall Wednesday morning. "The social distance markers around the building (are) obviously a little bit different, wearing a mask indoors is different, it's something you have to get used to doing, because you treat these dorms like your home," said Paige, a strategic communication and sociology major from Prince George's County, Maryland. "So usually when you're at home, you just walk around, enjoy yourself, relax, and we can't necessarily do that to the same extent." Move-in began just hours after incoming president Kristina M. Johnson announced that Ohio State would implement stricter COVID-19 safety measures, including mandatory testing for on-campus students and a requirement to wear masks outdoors on campus at all times. Other changes include reducing maximum class size from 100 to 50, offering opportunities for faculty and staff to be tested on a weekly basis, limiting in-person events and gatherings to 10 people or fewer, and recruiting more students and staff to assist with contact tracing. Johnson warned that in order for the university to remain open this fall, "we have to drive the COVID-19 positivity rate well below the current Franklin County rate of 5.5%, in order not to fill up the residence hall spaces and hospital beds available for quarantine, isolation and treatment." If the positivity rate does not decrease, the university will shut down the remaining in-person aspects of the semester, Johnson said. Ohio State previously planned to randomly test 6,500 undergraduate students throughout the semester, in addition to students, faculty or staff who experience COVID-19 symptoms. The new mandatory testing is required for all students living on campus or in university-managed housing. It applies to students at the main, Columbus campus as well as in residence halls at regional campuses. Students can choose to opt out of the program, "but this may result in moving to fully online courses, and those students may not be able to live in university housing," Johnson said. The new safety measures are in addition to ones already announced, which required that students complete health and safety training and sign a pledge before returning to campus, perform daily health checks and log them online, wear masks in most indoor settings, and follow other guidelines. Students said they're still adjusting to the new rules, but Paige said she thinks they'll get used to the requirements over time. "I feel like we'll get used to it," she said. "It's definitely going to be weird, like I wish that it could just be like a traditional experience," said 18-year-old Vivien Terselic after she moved into Park-Stradley Hall Wednesday. "But also I know that it's going to be unique, like something that only people in my grade get to experience." Wednesday was "pretty monumental," for Terselic's parents, Mike and Heidi Terselic; Vivien, an 18-year old nursing major, is the oldest and first of their four children to go to college. "Of course, we would have loved her to have the experience more similar to ours," Heidi Terselic said. "But we are very glad that she is able to move into campus, unlike a lot of students." Students began moving in Wednesday to a campus known for its rich football history and traditions. But this fall, there will be no football, the Big Ten conference decided Tuesday. Paige said she feels for the players and their potential professional careers that are affected by the Big Ten decision Tuesday. And while football is a pivotal aspect of campus life, she understands the cancellation of the fall sports season. "It's definitely gonna feel different," she said. ——— ©2020 The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio) Visit The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio) at www.dispatch.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.