The State University of New York’s College at Oneonta in the northern Catskills has been shut down for the next two weeks by the Chancellor of the State University system due to an outbreak of coronavirus on campus. Students and faculty returned to campus on Sunday, August 23. Since then, instead of registering for classes, students and faculty registered more than 100 positive test results, or three percent of the campus population, for the fast-moving virus, according to SUNY officials.
Administered with assistance from Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, beginning Wednesday, September 2, “The state is deploying a SWAT team to come into the Oneonta community to set up three rapid results testing facilities,” said SUNY Chancellor Dr. James Malatras. “It’s a 15-minute test. Any resident of the Oneonta community can be tested. There’s a lot of interaction in the community. Many of the students, of course, live off-campus.”
The three new sites are located at the Oneonta Armory down the block from the Oneonta Chabad, the Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center and a church on Main Street. In addition, the state department of health has deployed 71 contact tracers and eight case investigators to the Otsego County city. During that time, athletic activities and other extracurricular activities must be suspended, and dining hall options must move to take-out only.
The situation is unsettling for students, especially seniors who had post-graduate plans for the next phase of their lives.
Sydnie Rosenfeld, a 21-year-old senior from Staten Island, is majoring in Child and Family studies. She says she plans to go to graduate school to become a school counselor.
“It’s definitely a disappointment,” Rosenfeld told The Jewish Press. “This is not what I expected my senior year to be like. I’m hoping to have a graduation in some form whether it is inside or outside. So I just hope for the best. It’s disappointing not being able to see my friends, do events on campus. You can’t be with anyone you don’t live with.”
Rosenfeld lives in an on-campus apartment with four other students. “They are all taking the same precautions as me. Two of my roomates are Jewish,” Rosenfeld said.
If the on-campus situation does not improve Rosenfeld says she may be headed back home downstate.
“My parents told me to be safe and to try to be aware of who I am around,” Rosenfeld said. “They told me to always wear my mask. Depending upon how things go within the next couple of weeks my parents may come up to get me and bring me home. I don’t want to bring anything (the virus) home, just in case so I’m going to try to ride it out for awhile. I’ve been school-tested on Sunday but don’t have the results back yet.”
Allison Rifkin, a 21-year-old senior from Oceanside, Nassau County, is majoring in early childhood education and hopes to be an elementary school teacher. The stress and strain of the virus is having an emotional impact on her.
“I was supposed to be in the classroom student teaching this semester and because of the increase in cases we’re not allowed to go into the elementary schools so this really messed up my whole program,” Rifkin told The Jewish Press. “Yesterday we were happy we were going in but today the superintendent called to say it’s not going to happen. When our program got cancelled I just crawled up into a ball and felt it was too much. I was so angry and I don’t even know who to blame. I said why didn’t the school have us tested before? Why did those kids party? I have so many questions with no answers. It’s frustrating. It’s an emotional strain. It’s a lot to take in. This won’t delay my graduation but it defeats the purpose of the program I applied for and got accepted to. I can go to student teach next semester but it’s really sad that a lot of effort went into applying and getting accepted and then it’s not happening.”
The saving grace for these students and about 100 others is the Chabad house on campus run by Rabbi Meir and Fraidy Rubashkin.
“The Chabad is my life-saver,” said Rosenfeld. “It’s where I go when I need pretty much anything. Both Meir and Fraydie have been there in any way imaginable. I’ve definitely become a little bit more religious as I got older but I’m still trying to find myself. The only kosher food on campus is with the Chabad. I keep kosher-style on campus by eating vegan.”
Rifkin has a solid shoulder to rely on besides the Rubashkins.
“I live with one other girl who is also Jewish and is part of Chabad as well,” Rifkin said. “We’re the same major and we’ve been roommates the whole time at Oneonta. We’re super close and the two of us do everything together anyway. We’re taking the same precautions.”
Jewish life on campus is centered around the Chabad house.
“Chabad was a really big part of my campus life,” Rifkin said. “I used to go every Thursday from 5 until 11 or midnight helping Fraidy cook and set up for Shabbos. It really consumed a lot of our time. Not having that is really hard. We really loved it and it was such a big part of our lives. This past Shabbos we held our own little mini Shabbos dinner in our apartment but it’s nothing in comparison to what we are used to having. It’s kind of like hard for us.”
The Rubashkins are taking part in a national program called Chabad Cares.
“We originally had not planned to be open for any in-person activity for the first three weeks to see what happened with the numbers,” Rubashkin, director of the Oneonta Chabad and campus chaplain, told The Jewish Press. “It was the first time since we opened in 2012 that our dining room was bare for Shabbos. We had to eat alone. We’re going to start this week with distant social programming providing DIY Shabbat dinners to try to give the kids what they need to run Shabbos on their own. We see that as a unique opportunity. We normally get between 80 to 100 kids for Shabbos meals.”
Rubashkin says he’s teaching the kids a positive lesson.
“Everyone has a responsibility, at this time especially those in leadership positions, to impress upon the youngsters among us that may not be as serious,” Rubashkin said. “We have an obligation to impress upon them that it is serious and that health comes before everything, pekuach nefesh, and just the general notion of responsibility and taking care of each other that we’re all there for each other, that’s a foundational idea in yiddishkeit. I don’t think any Jewish organizations or students had been caught up in this (suspensions or partying) that I’ve been aware of.”
“All of the things that they’re (SUNY officials) doing together, whether it’s suspending students, organizations, or classes are very helpful in the sense that it’s really going to drive home the severity of this and this is not something that you can just imagine it to go away if we don’t do our part,” Rubashkin noted. “They’re not kids, although they act like it sometimes but they’re old enough to know that actions have consequences and they are living through that now and hopefully. This may be the shortest semester in the history of the school.”
“I hope the kids cooperate. That’s going to be the challenge,” Rubashkin said. “The issue here is not as much having the virus spreading in this round. Whatever damage was done was probably done. The value in suspending in-person classes is limited because there were very few in-person classes to start with. The message that it is sending that the kids just got back, they were out of the house finally and they just let loose and I think that kind of taking it easy and letting down the guard is really where this went wrong. We had a few organizations that did not take this seriously and they always did parties where they crammed wall-to-wall in a house partying like college kids do. I saw pictures and it was very disheartening.”
The expression, it’s not about me, it’s about protecting you is being driven home by peer pressure.
“The community hasn’t had any cases since April and now we’re coming in to town and the residents are saddled with all these cases,” Rosenfeld said. “I have to think about other people and not just myself. One thing I would everyone to know is that the coronavirus is not a joke. It could be very dangerous and you have to take it very seriously. You need to find the good in being quarantined and to stay in with your friends or family and not have to worry about going places.”
It’s the off-campus population where the problems exist, according to Rifkin.
“Realistically it’s all the people off-campus that have no guidelines that aren’t being watched and are causing all these problems,” Rifkin said. “It’s hard to control the off-campus people. The town or someone needs to step up because until the off-campus people are forced to get tested the virus is going to keep expanding.”
Rifkin also gave more clarity to the parties Rubashkin referred to.
“A lot of the parties were with the soccer team and other sports,” Rifkin said. “That’s being problematic as well. I don’t go to parties so I didn’t know most of them were happening. I am a party girl just not at the house parties. Give me a bar to go to and I’ll be happy.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo was not all thrilled when describing the actions of how a few students ruined the beginning of a semester for so many on one campus.
“You wanted to party. Now you have to go to remote learning which means you basically stay in the dorm,” Cuomo said sternly when prompted by a question by The Jewish Press during a phone news conference. “It’s a function of discipline and compliance. It’s human behavior to want to do this and to do that. It’s the administration’s authority to do the compliance. I think they (the students) got the message when they were told to stay in your dorm we’re going to remote learning. He (the SUNY Chancellor) also suspended students who did the unauthorized parties. Let them explain that when they (the students) get home. Well, the students want to party in college. Yeah, now you can go home and party with your parents.”
Rifkin and her roommate experienced a close encounter contracting the coronavirus when they went to a local bar called The Red Jug Pub. The college students went to grab a beer or two from 4 – 6 p.m. At 7:00 p.m. last week an employee came in to work about an hour after the students left. That employee tested positive for the coronavirus. The bar was shut down. On Friday, August 28 at 2:14 p.m. this message was posted on Facebook:
“Hello Red Jug Pub Family,
“Early this morning we received some very unfortunate news. One of our staff members has tested positive for COVID-19. The employees’ previous shifts include Tuesday 8/25, Friday 8/21, Thursday 8/20, and Tuesday 8/18 from 8pm until close. The health and safety of our employees is our top priority and for this reason we regret to inform you that we will be closed temporarily. After being notified of the positive test result, we immediately enacted our COVID-19 Safety Plan.”
Ironically, the pub sells shirts online for $20.00 that reads “I Survived Social Distancing, the Global Pandemic and Quarantine” with a picture of a red devil wearing a face mask.
“We were so thankful we weren’t there when that guy showed up for work,” Rifkin said.
Rosenfeld is part of an online chat group where she seems to be a calming voice.
“Some people are confused and nervous but a lot of people think that it’s for the best but there just could have been more information,” Rosenfeld recalled. “I tell them that it’s all going to be okay and it’s for the best to keep everyone healthy.”
The University at Albany, Plattsburgh State College and Geneseo State College have all experienced coronavirus outbreaks and have had students suspended from school but nothing like the rampant spread of the virus at Oneonta.
