Mason Bennett

Editor-in-Chief

mxb5302@psu.edu

With Behrend’s return to campus this week, the university’s Student Government Association (SGA) aided student arrival by providing key information at their meeting last Thursday, February 11.

SGA held their second meeting in February last week to prepare for an in-person return, touching on many key details, events and imperative information regarding the student body.

“First is approving the Election Packet…really nothing much is changing…just the dates. We’ll be looking for three freshmen seats to be filled as well as six upperclassmen seats to be filled,” said Chris Butler, president of SGA.

Following the first minutes of the meeting, Butler proposed creating an ad-hoc Constitutional Review Committee. The purpose of this committee, as described by the president, is to review the organization’s constitution and “…see what parts are good, what parts maybe aren’t so good, what works and what doesn’t, what can be improved, and compare that to maybe some other SGA constitutions from other campuses.”

Butler went on to explain that committees, such as the one he is proposing, already exist at many other commonwealth campuses, where “they’re really impactful,” he continued, “Maybe some legislation will come out of it, but mostly investigative.”

Next on the agenda for the SGA meeting was Executive Board Reports. Kris Motta Torok, Director of Student Leadership and Involvement and the advisor to the SGA, provided important information regarding COVID testing for returning students.

In addition to pre-arrival testing, students who were returning to campus in-person received an email on February 9 indicating the university’s intent on additional testing. 

“So now we’re moving into the next phase of testing, which is the universal testing. So this is the phase that once you come back to campus…if you are going to be on campus or you live [in proximity of the university] so that you’re going to be back on campus, they’re going to retest everyone, and this is mandatory…” Torok explained. 

Torok went on to explain that the testing will occur in Erie Hall, where students will receive a rapid test during their first week on campus. 

“And then depending on the results of that test, if it’s negative, then you’re on your way out. If it’s positive, then they will do a more comprehensive test, and then send you on the right path,” she said.

Grant Filbeck, president of the College Democrats here at Behrend, added his own concerns to the discussion: “So, in previous times, what has happened with those tests in Erie Hall…people are socially distant, you take off your mask you spit in the tube. So the difference, though, is if this person comes in, and takes the rapid test, and it’s positive, I believe they would have to take off their masks to do that. Is their safety protocols for that in case they test positive? They could be infecting a lot of people.”

Torok expertly reassured all in attendance: “…the rapid test is the nasal swab. And then the secondary test will be the spit test…so you shouldn’t have your mask off very long when you’re taking this [COVID test].”

Penn State organized two separate testing phases to maximize the safety of everyone returning in-person. According to Torok, pre-arrival testing is a “snapshot in time” for students, whereas “you could have contracted COVID after that…it could have been incubating in your body.”

The adviser to SGA continued to reassure the organization’s members, claiming that “We can move a lot more people through this. We have the capacity, over three days, to handle everyone who’s going to be on campus, okay. So it’ll be a much more logistically smooth process…”