Cornell is so much more than class.
Cornell is the flyers outside of the Temple of Zeus that are so stacked that it’s impossible to pin another on top. Cornell is the Krispy Kreme and energetic soliciting of student groups at Willard Straight. Cornell is the hugs in your dorm after not seeing your friends during a prelim week. Cornell is the musty co-op basements and overstuffed frat parties, running into classmates you didn’t know go to the same parties you go to.
Our posters still wave slightly when the door to Green Dragon opens and closes. But no one’s going to look at them for the next two weeks, at least not carefully. The cancellation of the parties, concerts and student group events before spring break is an overreaction, and it breaks my heart.
Students need to heal together after hearing that the warmest and most fun part of the spring semester has been taken away from us. Email after email with “cancellation” in the subject line halts the healing. The cancellations have been making us depressed, crazy and hopeless. I’ve been hearing friends and strangers alike say that the past few days have felt “like the end of the world” — this shouldn’t be the case.
Was it not enough to cut us off from each other two months early? We should be able to come together in our clubs or groups to feel unity and solidarity in such a stressful time.
With no confirmed cases of the virus, Tompkins County seems healthy. It feels that these measures are unnecessary in halting the spread of a virus that may not even be here.
I’m especially bitter as a freshman; it is well known that first semester freshman year can be the most challenging semester, with young friendships being difficult to rely on. Halfway into my second semester, I am profoundly happier than the last: I have my place on The Sun, with best friends and a new knowledge of where to find like-minded creative people.
Yet I feel like all of the hard work of this past semester has been futile; the new friendships and interests I made this semester will fade away from my grasp too soon. We need to be able to meet in groups to solidify these connections before we don’t see each other for five months.
Goodbye, Cornell Fashion Collective show, A&S lecture series I should’ve already been going to, Fanclub Collective, my beloved Eclipse. Goodbye, multitudinous soul of Cornell.
Emma Plowe is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. She currently serves as Arts Editor on The Sun’s board. She can be reached at [email protected].