NC State reports new COVID-19 clusters, as some protesters vent anger at leaders
N.C. State University reported five new COVID-19 clusters Thursday and two new clusters Friday.
About an hour after Thursday’s numbers came out, a group of student protesters set up a line of body bags and a wooden coffin with floral arrangements for a “preemptive funeral” outside the Talley Student Union.
A staff member dressed as NCSU Chancellor Randy Woodson gave a eulogy while members of the crowd jeered and booed him.
The protest was organized by members of the N.C. State Graduate Worker Union to show university administrators the consequences of reopening campus this fall.
“When the first student, staff or faculty member dies of COVID-19, we will not be able to come together like this,” said Grace Ullman, a graduate student worker and president of the union.
She told the dozens of students and workers watching to take a moment to “mourn what is to come.”
“Then place your anger where it belongs,” Ullman said, “not with your fellow students and coworkers, but with the people who put you in this death trap in the first place.”
N.C. State announced classes would move online just over a week after the semester began and then closed dorms, forcing students to move off campus. The change came after a spike of COVID-19 cases and clusters in campus dorms and fraternity and sorority houses.
“For weeks they have been placing blame on students for spreading the virus amongst each other, completely glossing over the fact that the university had invited them to come back in the first place,” Ullman said.
John Hedlund, a Ph.D. student and instructor, said N.C. State administration and the UNC System Board of Governors need to be held responsible for their “carelessness and callousness” in their reopening plans.
“They wanted to protect their revenue streams,” Hedlund said. “They don’t give a damn about our health.”
COVID-19 clusters force students off campus
The N.C. State campus has reported 31 clusters since classes began around two weeks ago.
Also Thursday, N.C. State began an 11-day move out, as most of the 6,600 students currently living on campus will vacate their dorms for the rest of the semester.
The new clusters were identified Thursday at N.C. State’s Tucker and Wood dorms, each with eight positive cases, at the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, with five cases, at the Theta Chi fraternity, with five cases, and at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, with 13 cases.
Houses in N.C. State’s Greek Village have now been connected to 13 clusters at the school.
The state defines a cluster as five or more cases in close proximity.
On Friday, N.C. State University reported COVID-19 clusters in the Sullivan residence hall and in an off-campus apartment complex, bringing the university’s total to 31 clusters since classes began this month.
The latest numbers from the state Health and Human Services Department report that 15% of the state’s total coronavirus caseload is among people ages 18 to 24. In Wake County, that number is higher, with college-age people representing the highest number of COVID-19 cases.
On its COVID-19 dashboard, the school reports 739 positive coronavirus cases since the pandemic began in March. The school reported 98 new cases Friday.
There have been nine COVID-19 clusters in on-campus dorms, another 13 in fraternity and sorority houses in N.C. State’s Greek Village and nine others in various off-campus apartments.
Classes are canceled Monday, Aug. 31, and Tuesday, Sept. 1, as students move out of dorms. Classes will be made up Nov. 16-17.
As of Thursday, the state Health and Human Services Department reports 15% of the state’s total coronavirus caseload among people ages 18 to 24. In Wake County, that age group has reported the highest number of cases.
This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 6:25 PM.
