Gabe Steffen
Opinion Editor
gsteffen@murraystate.edu
Just about every college student knows the wonder of a tailgate; snacks, drinks and socializing all before a sports game. Even in the middle of a pandemic, nothing is going to stop college students from having their fun.
But that’s just it! In the United States alone, we have a total of 31.4 million COVID-19 cases as of press time, which is 77,312 more than yesterday. The statement still stands that we are in the middle of a pandemic. You’d think students would be more responsible when it comes to being safe and wearing their masks. Despite the University’s best efforts, it seems that students were not being as safe as they could have been. This means that the University, despite trying all that it could, was not at fault and it was instead the student body’s fault for not being safer during this large event.
While the University allowed the tailgating with wider restrictions, as most people are getting their COVID-19 vaccines or staying safe in general, students still decided to go against the mask and social distancing mandates and made this event totally unsafe.
In fact, following the two tailgating events on Sunday, April 11, Bob Jackson, the University’s president, sent out an email on April 12 urging students to follow mask mandates and social distancing restrictions. These emails seemed very urgent in tone, probably because they saw that the vast majority of those attending the tailgate were not wearing a mask. It’s disheartening to see that, despite efforts made by the University to keep the event safe, those efforts fell on the deaf ears of students.
The University was not at fault, and it was instead the student body’s fault. Even if the University did more to enforce the rules, the fact of the matter is it is not the University’s job to hold the student body’s hand and ensure they are following the rules all the time. The pandemic has been going on for more than a year now, and it’s time for students to realize that it won’t be going away anytime soon. We all still have to take precautions to ensure both our safety and the safety of others. As students of Murray State University, it is our job to make sure we keep our community safe. We here on the Ed Board want to get back to normal just as much as the rest of the student body, but we can’t do that if we aren’t following the University’s mask and social distance mandates.