Even amid a global pandemic, colleges and universities across the US have invited their students back to campuses this fall. Promptly, cases started popping up amongst student bodies, forcing several schools, including Notre Dame, Michigan State University, and UNC at Chapel Hill, to close their gates after just weeks of school, according to The Hill. Who would’ve guessed? Certainly not the administrations at some of the most elite schools, who facilitated the returns to campus, pressuring students to come back this fall. However, it’s the students who have chosen to throw parties, ignore mandatory mask protocols, and gather in groups in dormitories. Who is responsible for these extremely precedented outbursts in cases? Both groups blame each other. 

Relying solely on just required COVID-19 testing, mask protocols, rules enforcing social distancing, and the compliance of the students, the administrations seem to be the ones to blame. They make the rules, so they’re responsible for the loopholes. In the past, administrations have been quick to take the blame for campus disruptions and speedily move on. But with the virus, there is no “moving on” for the foreseeable future, and this has put administrations in a rut. It is embarrassing and awkward, after taking months to plan a return that they thought would ensure safety, to have to send students home after a mere couple of weeks on campus. But even with this meticulous planning, they overlooked something so simple– can college kids be anything else but college kids? According to USA Today, mental health professionals claim that expecting students to accept a lack of social interaction is “unrealistic and harmful” at their age. On one hand, leaving home for the first time in a while undoubtedly makes seeing friends and having a social life twice as sweet, and twice as irresistible no matter the health compromises. Like a parent to their child, colleges like to think their students wouldn’t be the ones to cause problems; they wouldn’t throw parties and wouldn’t gather without masks. Perhaps, what administrations need is a reality check. Has the omnipresent gap between administrations and students in America’s college system finally come out of the shadows? Clearly, the students who chose to gather and resist rules, therefore facilitating the spread of the virus, are at fault as well. Labor Day weekend saw a climb in cases as some chose to gather, ignoring social distancing rules, according to USA Today.  

That’s not to say, of course, that every college student who returned to campus didn’t stick to the safety protocols. Even those who followed every precaution found themselves contracting the virus. Just being in dorms or socially distanced study groups has resulted in the spread of COVID-19. So, for the time being, there’s no escaping the virus on campuses. Even with the right safety protocols and procedures, bringing entire student bodies with kids from places all over the country back to a single campus has only ever pointed towards the spike in cases we’ve been witnessing. And as long as administrations keep campuses open, the climb will only continue.