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Life at universities across the country has been changed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even when institutions take precautions, they still have to be implemented by humans, who are subject to their own foibles. So schools are put in a position of constantly tweaking their procedures and regulations to best respond to a fluid situation.
When the University of Virginia recently saw a spike in cases, they had to tighten their protocols. Instead of asking university students to limit themselves to groups of 15 or fewer people, they knocked it down to groups of five and added a restriction on traveling in or out of Charlottesville for two weeks. All of which seems well designed to stop the spread of the infectious disease.
But they didn’t count on law students.
In response to this new policy, the UVA Student Bar Association wrote a letter to the university (according to sources at the law school, without seeking student input), asking that law students get an exemption from the new restrictions (available in full on the next page). And I know what you’re thinking, COVID doesn’t draw arbitrary distinctions between various courses of study, but don’t worry, the SBA has reasons the law school should get special treatment:
First, law students are simply at a different phase of life than our undergraduate counterparts.
Oh boy, that’s a bold stance to take. Seriously, a big chunk of 1Ls are only a year or so older than undergrads. And as the repeated reports of planned 1L parties and law student superspreader events at other law schools prove, law students are just as prone to short-sighted and selfish decisions that prioritize their own comfort and socialization as anyone else. But don’t worry, the effort to draw some sort of a hard line between the undergrads and law students continues:
Since last March, when undergraduate students were sent home and remained there during summer, many law students continued to reside in Charlottesville. Throughout this time, there were no substantial corresponding spikes in COVID-19 infections within the city.
….
The current increase in COVID-19 infections appears, instead, to correlate with the arrival of undergraduate students to Grounds.
You know, right around the same time the 1Ls arrived in Charlottesville. That’s fully 1/3rd of the law school population, so maybe back off the high horse. And tipsters at UVA Law confirm law students — even the so-called mature returning law students — haven’t been paragons of perfect quarantine etiquette:
Not only have law students been partying, but they have been shamelessly posting their travels, some flying to different states every weekend before returning to Charlottesville. Clearly the “different phase of life” means an ability to recklessly travel using this summer’s firm money.
Damn. Well then. It seem completely appropriate that the university never responded to this request for special treatment.
But wait, the story isn’t quite over yet. You’ll… completely guess what happened next! If you guessed there was a COVID outbreak at the law school, well, you’ve been paying attention to the shitshow that 2020 has been. From an email sent to the entire law school community (available in full on page 3):
We have received notice that a small number of Law School students have tested positive for COVID-19. The students are receiving care, isolating in Charlottesville, and following protocols from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). We are in contact with the students and wish them a speedy recovery
Of course. COVID makes fools of us all. It looks like those added restrictions on law students were well justified indeed.
Speedy recovery to those diagnosed with COVID-19.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).