Around Big Ten, students say football boosts morale, but some question players’ access to tests
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Ohio State freshman Jordan Raudins woke up to the news that Big Ten football would resume Oct. 24 and immediately texted her dad.
Raudins, who comes from a family of Buckeye fans, described her reaction as “over the moon.”
For Raudins, the Big Ten’s postponement of the college football season was the best of both worlds. She thought it was the right decision last month given that she believes the university’s priority was getting students back on campus.
Ohio State requires students living in university housing, like Raudins, to get a saliva test for COVID-19 once a week, and tests are also given to a sample of students living off-campus. Ohio State has reported 2,384 positive tests among students in the past month, a positivity rate of 3.77%. With so many students being regularly tested, Raudins believes the postponement allowed Ohio State to work out the kinks in its back-to-campus plan without having to immediately worry about football.
Because the Big Ten took extra time in starting its football season, Raudins thinks the safety protocols for players will be stronger and prevent more widespread outbreaks. (Rutgers was one of the schools that quarantined its football program after an outbreak this summer.)
“Everybody I know in my whole family was really excited,” Raudins told USA TODAY Sports. “And I do think part of that is that we know they’re gonna be as careful as possible and it’s not just gonna be, ‘OK, football is back, everything’s back to normal.’”
But not all Big Ten students were as happy as Raudins about the decision. At the University of Michigan, senior Damian Chessare felt the decision to return revealed his school’s twisted priorities.
Unlike at Ohio State, students at Michigan must have symptoms or come into close contact with someone who is infected to be tested for coronavirus on campus. Those who are interested in a test must fill out a survey on the university’s website that asks why they seek testing. The survey provides the options of having an active infection, having close contact with a confirmed infection, being referred by contact tracing, wanting antibody testing or needing a test for upcoming travel or a job. The university says it’s unable to offer testing for those without symptoms or high-risk exposures and directs students to the county health website for other testing options.
At Michigan, graduate student instructors and resident advisers have gone on strike to protest the university’s reopening plan, and a lack of transparency around testing and tracing is one of their concerns. According to Michigan’s COVID-19 dashboard, the university has conducted 13,902 tests since March, compared to Ohio State conducting over 63,000 tests the past month. Michigan has a positivity rate of 1.9% over the last 14 days.
