The COVID-19 pandemic was raging worldwide when Grace Acton ’24 of Harvard, Mass., arrived at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ for her first year. Like her peers, she faced myriad pandemic protocols — universal masking, twice weekly testing, social distancing, and limited extracurricular fun. 

But unlike many of her fellow students, Acton was at high risk for COVID due to preexisting immune and respiratory issues, making for an awkward and sometimes lonely entry into college. So she reached for a pastime she learned in childhood: sewing. 

“I couldn’t really do much besides go to class and be in my room. So I brought my sewing machine with me and I had various sewing projects. It was nice to not just be bored and alone,â€� Acton said.

But what started simply as a way to pass time led Acton to a supportive community in the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ costume shop, to mentors who proved kindred spirits, to a senior honors thesis on ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ historical clothing collection.

For this month’s installment of the “What It Tookâ€� series, which explores how ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ people find resilience, we wanted to celebrate the joy in doing the things you love — whether it’s to help you get through winter, help you get through finals, or simply help you smile — with Grace Acton as an example.

To be sure, Acton is not unique in exploring a new hobby or pastime in the early years of the pandemic. Many crafts exploded in popularity during COVID-19. But what sewing provided to Acton outlasted the pandemic, giving her the resolve to make time for herself, and a deeper understanding of how important that is.

At first, Acton said, sewing was just something to do. “Then sewing became this really therapeutic hobby for me. It’s also very tactile, and something totally different from my very digital academic work,� she said.

Acton first learned to sew at age 8 when her mother helped her make drawstring bags for her gymnastic team. It was several years later before she decided on a whim to try her hand at making her prom dress by herself. Then COVID hit and canceled everything, including the prom.

But that navy gown turned out so well, Acton rode the wave of success and decided to create a historic dress in the summer before coming to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. When she finished it, she wore it for photographs her sister Lily took at the public library in their hometown. 

Acton thought the ornate, brick Harvard Public Library looked so much like the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter movies, she goofed around in front of it in her period-style dress as her sister took photographs to capture the moment.

Then it was on to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, for an unusual first year, with all those pandemic protocols.

During her first semester, Acton took the course “Fashion: A Survey of Western History,� taught by Associate Professor of Theater Chris McDowell, and wore a coat she had made to class. McDowell took one look at it and said Acton would be a valuable addition to the student team in the theater department’s costume shop. Acton joined the shop that winter and never left, fitting her shifts in around academics and sports as a member of the varsity golf team.

“At the end of it, I would just feel relaxed,â€� Acton said. “Everybody at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ has a busy schedule. I am not unique in this. Every student and faculty member is always go, go, go, go. And it’s nice to make time in the day for myself.â€�

Costume shop supervisor Carol Farrell is a champion of this philosophy, as illustrated at 2 p.m. each day when she stops work in the shop to invite everyone to gather for tea.

“We think of this as the good-vibe zone,â€� Farrell said. “Sometimes people just want to stop in because they need to not feel crazy. People who don’t work in the shop just come by saying how crazy busy they are. I feel we all benefit from spending a little time getting to know each other and creating a community. Because when is creating community not important?â€�

Acton called Farrell an important mentor at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. Farrell, who is retiring in May, called Acton a rare gem, one who is skilled and creative and brings a zeal for solving puzzles. 

“Grace is super bright and super capable. She loves to figure stuff out,â€� Farrell said. “And she has the hand-to-brain connection. Increasingly people don’t have the hand-to-brain connection — except for working their phones.â€�

Several weeks after joining the costume shop, Acton showed her flair for creativity and problem solving when faced with a surprise lockdown due to a spike in COVID cases at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. That came at noon on April 1, 2021, with an email instructing students to return to their rooms by 2 p.m. Acton had just enough time to visit a nearby fabric store. She had a plan.

The week before, the massive container ship Ever Given got stuck and blocked the Suez Canal for six days, launching memes all over social media. With material purchased in the moments before the lockdown, Acton sewed a green “boat dressâ€� that resembled the container ship, complete with colorful squares on the top that represented the many containers. 

When she finished it, she went with her friend Diana Rodriguez ’24 of Houston to photograph the dress on April 6 by Lake Andrews. (At that point, contract tracing was completed and students were allowed to move about outside as long as they wore masks.) 

“The reason that the boat dress project sticks with me more than my many other lockdown sewing projects is the connection and collaboration with my housemates,â€� said Acton, who lived in a single room in Stillman House (which was converted to first-year housing during COVID).

“We were all stuck together in this scary and isolating time, but we all got a big kick out of this silly project and it was a great distraction. Sewing has helped me make connections with so many people at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, and this was one of the first examples of that.â€�

Located just downstairs from the lobby of Schaeffer Theatre, the costume shop has sewing machines lining one wall, large tables for ironing, and, on one Thursday, a clothing rack full of hippie-style clothing on hand for a performance. It’s an open, bright, white gathering space with splashes of color throughout. Accessories from past theater productions hang on the wall. All around the ceiling, several black decorative crows look down from above, as if inspecting the hands-on work.

It’s where Acton enjoys what she calls her “focus time,â€� a place where she created many elaborate outfits for the college’s annual Trashion Show — simply for the fun of it.  

“What I love about working in the shop and the kind of space that Carol creates in there is it’s a place where I don’t look at my phone,� Acton said. “I feel like I’m always looking at a screen. Even my history work, which normally you’d think of as being such an analog field, even that work is super digital. And my texts come through on my laptop, and my texts come through on my phone. It’s really hard to disconnect from the screen.�

Acton came to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ envisioning she would major in mathematics and politics. But after taking McDowell’s fashion history class, she changed her mind. “I have always been a math brain and I love math,â€� she says. “But I particularly like the application of math to other things.â€�

And that’s how Acton landed on her unusual self-designed major, which draws from history and digital and computational studies. This year, Acton is completing a senior honors thesis that “applies math and data science to a historical topic,” in this case, a hidden-away collection of historical clothing.

For years, the theater department has accepted donations of vintage clothing, some dating to the 1800s, from well-meaning faculty, staff, families, alumni, and local residents. Outstripping the department’s ability to catalog the donations (or to use them in shows), the clothes ultimately filled box after box in storage. 

Enter Grace Acton, who is working to, as she says, “data-ify” this collection into a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Clothing Archive that will be accessible through both physical and digital archives.

With boundless enthusiasm, and co-advised by McDowell and Anelise Hanson Shrout, assistant professor of digital and computational studies, Acton has been taking an inventory of the antique clothing collection to decipher the era of each article of clothing and catalog all of it.

Since September, Acton has examined and dated around 180 pieces of clothing by assessing the kind of textiles and sewing techniques used in each one. “It’s turned out to be the most-fun project,” she said.

“The kind of work Grace is doing is work that people are trying to do all over the country in museums,� said McDowell, a clothing historian. “We’re both interested in having a cultural understanding of what sewing means, the idea of labor. When it takes you 40 hours to make something, you have a very different appreciation of that.�

As she finishes her senior year, Acton is still living the lesson she learned from her mentors, and from her time alone sewing. Research and academics should be serious and rigorous, but there should always be fun and time made for oneself.

Next fall, Acton will pursue a master’s degree in digital humanities with a focus on history and data science at Lancaster University in England — where she plans to continue sewing.

Massive income-support programs deployed during the pandemic have been more than just a shot in the arm for the world’s economies, says Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics Abraham Asfaw.

They’ve been a matter of life and death.

, Asfaw measured the effects and tradeoffs of income-support programs worldwide during the pandemic, such as paycheck protection and expanded unemployment benefits.

His conclusion: ISPs globally “avoided 3.6 million COVID-19 cases and 166,690 deaths� between Feb. 15 and May 15, 2020, the period of his study.

Asfaw’s paper, “The effect of income support programs on job search, workplace mobility, and COVID-19: International evidence,â€� combines data from several sources, including the , , and Google job search trends in 178 countries.

The study significantly underscores the need for policymakers to consider public health benefits such as disease prevention and mortality reduction “when evaluating the total values of social insurance programs,� writes Asfaw.

Asfaw’s study is thought to be one of the first to provide evidence of social insurance programs’ effect on job search effort, workplace mobility, and COVID-19 case and mortality growth rates.

Typically — absent a pandemic, that is — nations use ISPs to help with “consumption smoothing,� a term that describes one’s ability to conduct their financial life as usual, such as buying groceries and paying for housing and transportation, despite disruptions.

But during the pandemic, ISPs took on a life-and-death purpose. As countries instituted drastic measures to fight the pandemic, including stay-at-home orders, ISPs made it financially possible for people to achieve physical distancing, including staying away from the in-person workplace.

“In the presence of a contagious respiratory disease,â€� writes Asfaw, the benefit of ISPs “can go beyond consumption smoothingâ€� by “reducing workplace contacts and containing the virus’s spread in the community.â€� 

(Asfaw does acknowledge that individuals could have used other “coping mechanisms,� besides ISPs, such as “credit cards, savings, loans from friends and family, to smooth their consumption and practice social distancing, reducing physical contacts in workplaces and other areas.�)

Asfaw notes that there is a tradeoff when it comes to ISPs. Critics have long argued that such programs hurt the economy by lowering unemployed workers’ incentive to apply for jobs and return to the workforce. As governments loosened unemployment eligibility criteria and increased benefits in the early months of the pandemic, those .

Indeed, Asfaw found that ISPs during the pandemic did lead to a “reduction in job-search effort levelsâ€� of between 6.6 and 11.6 percentage points in economies throughout the world. 

At the same time, ISPs, by allowing workers, whether employed or not, to stay away from the in-person workplace, reduced the growth rate of COVID-19 cases (between 21.8 to 47.7 percentage points) and reduced COVID-19 mortality growth rates (between 17.1 to 29.7 percentage points). 

Had people not had ISPs, and instead been out job hunting or been forced to work in-person, Asfaw’s research indicates it would have “come at the cost� of an additional 3.69 million COVID-19 cases and 166,690 deaths worldwide between Feb. 15 and May 15, 2020. (, the actual death toll during that time was around 320,000 worldwide.)

Asfaw mentions other public-health benefits of ISPs, noting that loss of income due to job loss can adversely affect one’s mental health and potentially increase deaths by suicide. 

“Therefore, to the degree ISPs improve general health and reduce non-COVID-19 mortality, the effects of the programs documented here underestimate their actual total health benefits,â€� he writes.

Asfaw adds, “The findings from this paper also strengthen the argument for a stronger social insurance program that can automatically replace lost income due to unemployment caused by a pandemic or other types of aggregate shocks.�

Years from now, Billy Lahart ’21 will look back at his senior year on the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ men’s basketball team and see the goose-egg record: 0-0.

Zero games, zero wins, zero losses — a season lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. “That’s going to be weird,” says the English major from Franklin, Mass.

But on and off the court, Lahart is a glass-is-mostly-full guy. A team captain, Lahart has earned NESCAC All-Academic honors and All-Sportsmanship honors during his career.

“In a pandemic year like this, you just go back to the old definition of success: Have we applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand?” he asks. This year, the task was team-building, practicing, and getting ready for a new influx of players and a full schedule for 2021–22.

“And I would say that we certainly have. We’ve gotten a lot better. We’re a really tight group. So we should never look at 2020–21 as a loss — we were the COVID team.”

“You wake up, you go to class, and you bring the best of yourself to the classroom and to your professors,” Lahart says. “Then you go to practice and, in a very similar way, you strive to bring the best of yourself to your teammates and coaches — you hold yourself and others accountable, just trying to improve every single day.”

Off the court, Lahart has been involved in the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Musicians Union and WRBC radio. He’s especially active in Special Olympics, this year.

Recently, he was honored by the JFM Navigators, a local community-based day program that helps adults with intellectual disabilities and other developmental disabilities improve confidence, increase self-reliance, and expand community participation.

Lahart received the Roland J. Boutin Award, given to someone outside the program who enriches the lives of people supported by the Navigators. â€œI absolutely could not imagine what my four years would be like without the Navigators,â€� said Lahart.

For Lahart, his various college endeavors, and the people he’s grown close to, has created a winning sum total.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is “where you can give yourself fully to your faith, your relationships, your work, and your play. You can embrace and live out our school motto, Amore ac Studio, ‘With Ardor and Devotion.'”

One year ago, as the global COVID-19 pandemic took hold, Assistant Professor of Economics Leshui He and colleagues in China called attention to a growing threat of discrimination faced by Asian people worldwide.

Their warning has proven sadly accurate. Since then, especially in the U.S., Asian Americans have endured a mounting deluge of racist attacks.

The has reported some 4,000 racist incidents against Asian American Pacific Islanders, including recent high-profile incidents. The potentially race-influenced killings in Atlanta, about which ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ President Clayton Spencer issued a statement Wednesday, are the latest. 

Titled “Discrimination and Social Exclusion in the Outbreak of COVID-19,� the article coauthored by Professor He was published in April 2020 in in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

The paper’s goal was to “document the observation and unexpected social outcomes of social exclusion and discrimination in the outbreak of COVID-19 across the world and inside of China.� He’s coauthors are Jun He, Wen Zhou, Xuanhua Nie, and Ming He of the School of Ethnology and Sociology at Yunnan University in China.

The scholars collected data from online surveys plus secondary sources such as descriptive data from newspapers and internet searches.

The authors quickly found a link between the “massive efforts� to control the spread of the disease with instances of discrimination against Asians.

“Discrimination and social exclusion has occurred in various forms,� the scholars note. Just over 25 percent of respondents overseas experienced discrimination in the breakout of COVID-19, while 90 percent of respondents inside of China experienced discriminatory attitudes.

The paper makes an “urgent call for the inclusiveness in policy and media in the face of this public health emergency,â€� noting that “discrimination and social exclusion can undermine efforts to identify, isolate and contain the transmission of the virus.â€�

The authors quickly found a link between the “massive efforts� to control the spread of the disease through various methods, including lockdowns, with instances of discrimination against Asians. The scholars define discrimination as “unjust treatment of, or making a distinction against a person based on group, class, race, age, sex or category to which that person belongs rather, than on individual merit.�

As early as January 2020, the scholars observed public cases of discrimination in the West against people of Asian descent — “on the bus, in shopping malls, on the street and on school campuses� — from verbal abuse to violent attacks.

The wearing of facemasks was a flashpoint of such incidents early on, especially since wearing a facemask in the West was highly unusual prior to the pandemic.

“Prior to recent months, face mask-wearing had implied sickness in the West,� the scholars wrote, whereas mask-wearing is ubiquitous in the “daily life of many Eastern Asian countries to an extent that it has even been viewed as a fashion statement. This cultural difference and the legacy of racism may have interacted to contribute to the increased discrimination.�

Fear of the unknown, especially when it comes to deadly, infectious disease, “is a part of human nature,� the scholars added. “Stigmatization of COVID-19 led by some politicians such as Donald Trump might have reinforced such discrimination and social exclusion,.

“However, it is paramount to recognize the discriminatory behaviors that accompany fear, as they damage not only the socio-cultural fabric in the long run, but they also compromise present efforts to contain the disease. While various efforts to eliminate discrimination and social exclusion are a good start, further measures are still required, particularly post-pandemic.�

The email went out at 10:07 a.m. on Friday, March 13, 2020, from President Clayton Spencer.

Due to the surging pandemic, Spencer announced, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ would immediately suspend in-person classes, asking all 1,700 students — except those granted waivers through petition — to move off campus in preparation for remote learning to begin in 10 days.

“My heart goes out to all of our students,â€� Spencer said. But, “we are at a pivotal moment with respect to both the spread of the COVID-19 virus and our ability as a college to take proactive, rather than reactive, steps.”

Thus began a year filled to the brim with reactions, proactions, and a lot of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ teamwork, culminating in a return to campus in August and a successful — so far — in-person academic year.

Here’s a look at the year gone by through the lens of COVID.

12:06 p.m., March 13, 2020

With a rough sweep of his hand across his head, a student expresses worry and uncertainty on the final day of in-person classes on March 13, 2020.

3:20 p.m., March 16, 2020

Awaiting a bus outside Chase Hall, two students hug and say goodbye as they prepare to leave campus due to the growing pandemic.

3:34 p.m., March 16, 2020

Waiting outside Chase Hall to board a bus home, Sultan Hashmi ’23 of Belvedere Tiburon, Calif., tucks a philodendron cutting from his ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dorm room into his travel organizer. “I couldn’t bear to leave it behind,â€� he said.

4:14 p.m., March 17, 2020

“Beginning immediately, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ will transition to a remote working model for any employees whose physical presence on campus is not required to carry out their duties.â€� — President Clayton Spencer, in an announcement to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ staff.

“We are moving to remote work, to the extent possible, because public health guidance tells us that decreasing the number of people on campus, combined with other social distancing practices, is crucial to slowing the spread of COVID-19.”

11:17 a.m., March 25, 2020

During their state’s stay-at-home order, siblings Alison Gouveia ’22 (left) and Will Gouveia pose in the living room of their home in Jenkintown, Pa., on March 25, 2020.

Gouveia composed the photograph for her “Perceptions and Expression� course.

“It was taken when every day brought heaps of alarming, quickly changing information. As quarantine continued to be extended, I chose to pose my siblings in a way that expresses common concerns about food availability and mental health during these unprecedented times.â€�

6:13 p.m., April 5, 2020

Professor of Spanish Baltasar Fra-Molinero (left) and Charles Nero, Benjamin E. Mays ’20 Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies, wave from a distance on the Historic Quad as they walk through a mostly empty campus with their dog, Caesar.

7:48 p.m, April 6, 2020

“Given where we stand with the global pandemic, it is clear that it would be neither safe nor prudent for us to host an in-person Commencement in May…. I am heartbroken to convey this news, adding to the disappointments you have experienced this semester, as events beyond imagination have conspired to deprive you of the traditions students look forward to as the culmination of their four years at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.â€� — President Clayton Spencer

3:27 p.m., April 24, 2020

When the pandemic sent students away from ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ for the balance of the winter semester, Maya Seshan ’20 of Wilton, Conn., said she found it “extremely difficult to give myself the structure and environment I needed to get work done.”

At ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, my favorite spot to work was always the large tables by the windows on the first floor of Ladd Library. I loved being surrounded by the light-filled windows and in an open space buzzing with noise. At home, our family room with big windows is about the closest I can get to that.”

12:06 p.m., April 28, 2020

With Commencement fully remote in 2020, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ staff went to work trying to deliver, in more ways than one, a positive experience for the Class of 2021.

Assistant Vice President for Dining, Conferences, and Campus Events Christine Schwartz hauls a stack of “Bobcat Boxes” to an assembly line of staff who packed and shipped a selection of pre-Commencement swag to members of the Class of 2020 in early May.

“With every box, I think of every senior. We’re preparing for Commencement as we do every year, but in a very different way this year. What hasn’t changed is the pride and excitement we feel for our seniors,� said Schwartz.

3:46 p.m., May 7, 2020

In the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ costume shop, a team of faculty, staff and students set to work sewing hundreds of cloth face coverings for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ employees’ use. Here, Gabi Gucagaite ’21 tries on a mask.

“This is one of the few times in life where a practical skill that, not only do we have in our wheelhouse, but that I really advocate as part of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ experience, could come to the forefront,â€� said Associate Professor of Theater Christine McDowell.

Elsewhere, Assistant Professor of Biology Andrew Mountcastle joined an effort to 3D print protective face shields for healthcare workers.

6:46 p.m., May 8, 2020

“The essence of our educational model is that our students live and learn in a residential community through a rich array of experiences inside and outside the classroom. It is thus our fervent hope that it will be safe to welcome new and returning students in person in the fall, and we are actively working toward that goal.� — Clayton Spencer

9:19 a.m., May 11, 2020

, Michael Murray, the Charles Franklin Phillips Professor of Economics, carries the mace on May 11 during the taping of portions of the 154th ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Commencement. 

1:49 p.m., May 26, 2020

Ron Tardif, mason for facility services, installs the Class of 2020 ivy stone on the front of Pettengill Hall.

10:56 a.m., May 31, 2020

In a Pettigrew Hall computer lab, staffers oversee the livestream presentation of the pre-recorded ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Commencement.

“We have three layers of redundancy with hardware and two layers for internet uplink,” said ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Communciation’s Nick O’Brien about the setup.

11:55 a.m., May 31, 2020

Commencement was a remote affair this year for members of the Class of 2020. Here, Anna Glass ’20 of Wilton, Maine, celebrates at home with her parents, Marc ’88 and Wendy Glass.

1:37 p.m., June 2, 2020

Samuel Mironko ’21 of Belmont, Mass., took this photograph of peaceful participants in a Black Lives Matter protest gathering in Boston’s Franklin Park on June 2, 2020, in the wake of the May 24 death of George Floyd.

10:23 a.m., June 10, 2020

Judith Otim joins fellow ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ staff in the College Store to pack and ship diplomas and other Commencement items to 463 graduates from the Class of 2020.

Many hands made light work. Many hands also helped write the final chapter of the most unusual Commencement in college history.

“My job was bubble-packing the diplomas and nestling them into the boxes,â€� said Kerry O’Brien, assistant dean of the faculty. “As I wrapped each diploma, I thought about all the energy and imagination and sheer effort that earned it. There’s a long story in each one.â€�

3:16 p.m., June 16, 2020

A “topping-offâ€� ceremony brought a few dozen people to the Bonney Science Center construction site on June 16, including project donors Michael ’80 and Alison Grott Bonney ’80.

It was the first time some participants had seen ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ colleagues in person (appropriately covered and distanced) since COVID-19 had descended three months ago.

Harking back to medieval Scandinavian tradition, an evergreen branch or tree is mounted to the girder (or brick or wooden beam) whose placement will end one chapter in a construction project and begin the next. The idea is to bring good luck to the new building, and maybe some public recognition to the folks involved.

From left, Alison Bonney, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Geoff Swift, President Clayton Spencer, Vice President for College Advancement Sarah Pearson ’75, and Michael Bonney.

8:42 a.m., July 13, 2020

With the campus mostly empty during the summer — there were no summer programs, no Admission tours, few student researchers — the efforts of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ staff to keep things looking beautiful came into sharp relief. Here, Charlotte Barrett of Facility Services helps mulch flower beds around campus.

7 a.m., June 30, 2020

“We will invite students to come to campus in person to begin or continue their ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ education, so that we can do our best to support their forward momentum. Based on exhaustive consultation and planning, we are confident that we can make it safe to do so, assuming that we have broad commitment across the campus community.â€� — President Clayton Spencer

12:30 p.m., July 14, 2020

“I’m going to talk about chairs now.� — Professor of Politics Stephen Engel, during a Fall Planning Team meeting in which reopening discussions start to dig into the dizzying details of ensuring physical spacing by altering the indoor academic environment, including removing hundreds of chairs from classrooms.

The Fall Planning Team, co-chaired by Vice President for Campus Life Josh McIntosh and Associate Professor of Politics Senem Aslan, was responsible for considering calendar adjustments and teaching model options for academic year 20-21.

2:15 p.m., July 20, 2020

Only a few students, already on campus due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, did summer research in 2020.

Working in the lab of Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Andrew Kennedy, chemistry major Gabriele Gucagaite ’21 of Kaunas, Lithuania, created slides and images that display, through fluorescent imaging of brain proteins, actual mouse memories, such as a specific taste or smell. The lab’s neuroscience research also involves altering or enhancing the memories that a mouse has.

3:16 p.m., June 29, 2020

During summer 2020, politics major Georgia Moses ’21 did arts programming with children at Hillview Family Development, a public housing community in Lewiston.

“Many of the kids I’m working with haven’t participated in activities in a structured way since March,” said Moses, whose work was supported by a Harward Center Summer Civic Fellowship.

“Working with kids during a pandemic is a challenge. I’ve had to set a lot of ground rules in order for the programming to run smoothly and safely, from distancing to mask wearing to hand sanitizing. That said, I’ve been really impressed by the level of understanding these kids have. They clearly know the importance of keeping themselves and their communities safe and healthy.

“I’m learning that they are incredibly eager to put their minds to work and spend time outside around others. They’re itching to do things.”

1:30 p.m., Aug. 10, 2020

“I believe that with the appropriate measures, policies, and procedures in place, including thoughtful screening, it is appropriate and safe to have people come back to campus. We are very impressed with the thoughtfulness, thoroughness, and due diligence that the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ leadership has put into considering how to reopen the campus.” — Dr. Stacey Rizza P’20, infectious disease expert at the Mayo Clinic and consultant to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, along with colleague Dr. Jack O’Horo, during a briefing for all ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ faculty and staff.

10:29 a.m., Aug. 11, 2020

Marshall Hatch Jr. ’10 walks by a police blockade on Chicago’s Madison Street near the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church on Aug. 11, 2020, in the tense days following the shooting of a 20-year-old Black man by police.

In the West Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago, where Hatch grew up and works now as an activist and community leader, he was confronting the twin pandemics of 2020, COVID-19 and the battle with white supremacy.

4:29 p.m., Aug. 17, 2020

Nick Cooke, assistant athletic director for athletic performance and director of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Testing Center in Underhill Arena, stands at the ready on Aug. 17.

In the background at right are collection rooms where employees and students do their self-swab COVID-19 tests, the goal being to identify early and aggressively potential outbreaks, and then adjust college operations accordingly. 

8:25 a.m., Aug. 25, 2020

Maine New Cases 7 Day Average: 21
Total ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Student Cases During a Week of Return Testing: 1

“Where do I stand?â€� asks Harris Manganiello ’21 of Collegeville, Pa., first in line at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Testing Center, a repurposed Underhill Arena, on the first day of arrivals.

Luckily, that question had been anticipated: spray-painted squares, at the familiar distance of 6 feet apart, told students where to queue up for the first of their twice-weekly COVID-19 tests.

“I’m nervous to see how it goes,� he says. “But I suppose in a few minutes, it will be normal.�

8:36 a.m., Aug. 26, 2020

As a student rubs her hands with sanitizer, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Geoffrey Swift points the way to the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Testing Center entrance. After testing in Underhill, students walk across the way to Merrill Gym for final check-in.

9:50 a.m., Sept. 2, 2020

“Je me masque, donc, je suis.� — Professor of French and Francophone Studies Kirk Read, riffing on Descartes, created this T-shirt with a fall 2020 rallying cry, translated, “I mask, therefore, I am.� His face mask says, “En français? S’il vous plaît“

1:12 p.m., Sept. 2, 2020

Multifaith Chaplain Brittany Longsdorf savors her surroundings in the Peter J. Gomes Chapel after a reopening ceremony on Sept. 2. The chapel had been closed for extensive restoration since November 2018.

7:06 p.m., Sept. 3, 2020

With indoor dining not available in Commons, students flocked to the next best thing: Garcelon Field, seen here on a warm late-summer evening. (Samuel Mironko ’21 for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

9:14 a.m., Sept. 12, 2020

Head tennis coach Paul Gastonguay ’89 oversees warmups during a men’s practice at the Wallach Tennis Center.

4:33 p.m., Sept. 16, 2020

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletes found creative ways to stay busy and fit during a fall without competition. From left, cross country runners Vanessa Paolella ’21, Elise Lambert ’22, and Frieda Kickliter ’23 warm up with a medicine ball toss outside Merrill Gymnasium before going on a run.

9:36 a.m., Sept. 29, 2020

During 2020–21, faculty and students had the choice to offer or take courses in person or remotely.

For Holly Ewing, the Christian A. Johnson Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, her course “Soils� needed to be taught in person. “The course absolutely relies on students being able to see, smell, and feel soils in a variety of landscapes,� she says.

Here, environmental studies major Sam Gilman ’22 (right) of Mendham, N.J., and lab partner Zoe Knauss ’23 of Buffalo, N.Y., dug one of their eight holes during the course of the morning’s fieldwork.

1:53 p.m., Oct. 1, 2020

Henry Morjikian ’22 of Pelham, N.Y., swabs his nostrils in a curtained-off testing space at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Testing Center in Underhill Arena. To ensure proper technique, the tests are observed by medical assistants and certified nursing assistants who are overseen by a registered nurse.

7:03 p.m., Oct. 2, 2020

Physically distanced, the Discordians hold their Friday evening meeting in Chase Hall’s Little Room. Chem-free and community-oriented, the gaming-and-gathering club hosts everything from magic tournaments and snow-decorating contests to the campus-wide Humans vs. Zombies game.

12:48 p.m., Oct. 8, 2020

Maine New Cases 7 Day Average: 30
Total ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Student for the Week: 0

Outside Page Hall, Junior Advisor Kama Boswell ’23 (right) of Bellevue, Wash., plays a game of Battleship with first-year student Julia Johnson of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Boswell has used the game as a way to get to know her first-year students in Page while staying physically distant, per public health protocols.

Even in a normal year, it’s a challenge for new students to get into the swing of college life.

They’re helped along the way by five dozen or so Junior Advisors and Residence Coordinators who live and work with students in the college’s 30 residences, a job made extra tough by COVID-19 protocols that limited indoor gatherings.

4:30 p.m., Oct. 22, 2020

Perla Figuereo ’21 of the Bronx, N.Y., and Lebanos Mengistu ’21 of Somerville, Mass., are co-presidents of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Student Government. Asked to physically distance for a portrait, they extended their arms to create the required 6 feet, and a note of strength, connection, and community.

3:15 p.m., Nov. 6, 2020

Maine New Cases 7 Day Average: 136
Total ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Student for the Week: 2

A mild fall helped things by allowing professors to meet and teach students outside. On a balmy November day on the Historic Quad, Associate Professor of German Jakub Kazecki teaches his course examining the question “What is German literature?� through the lens of writers who are “difficult to incorporate into a national narrative.�

2:48 p.m., Dec. 2, 2020

Muskan Verma ’21 of Shimla, India, poses on Alumni Walk for a story about the challenges that students have faced in 2020–21.

Verma has been at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ since March 2020. “This semester, one of my close family members died unexpectedly. If it had happened any other year, I probably would not have gone home. But just the fact that I didn’t even have a choice — that hit harder. But support from people around me in terms of the staff and professors got me through it.”

8:51 a.m., Dec. 6, 2020

Maine New Cases 7 Day Average: 289

Total Student Tests During the Fall: 43,842
Cumulative Student Positive Tests: 24
Overall Fall Student Positive Rate: 0.05

Instead of returning to campus after Thanksgiving, students finished the fall semester remotely, leaving behind a mostly-empty campus, including the new and popular Adirondack chairs around campus. (An all-weather model, the chairs remained in place during the winter, awaiting the spring like the rest of us.)

To avoid having students return during the teeth of the predicted winter COVID surge, winter break was extended to mid-February.

8:43 p.m., Dec. 31, 2020

Maine New Cases 7 Day Average: 279

A year after its New Year’s Eve 2019 dedication, artist Charlie Hewitt’s Hopeful sign continues to shine brightly on the side of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Mill No. 5 on Main Street. In this image, taken last December, the 30-foot, illuminated aluminum sculpture is framed by holiday lights on nearby Lincoln Street. We remain hopeful!

9:56 a.m., Jan. 18, 2021

Maine New Cases 7 Day Average: 565

The college’s Martin Luther King Jr. observance was conducted remotely this year. The keynote event took the form of a prerecorded long-distance Zoom conversation between author, scholar, and activist icon Angela Davis and Therí Pickens, professor of English and chair of the college’s Program in Africana.

3:23 p.m., Jan. 25, 2021

Maine New Cases 7 Day Average: 493

Sherwood Heights Elementary School teachers line up in front of the Auburn school as they receive Ashley Bryan “swag bags,” delivered by ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Museum of Art education curator Anthony Shostak.

The gift bags included Bryan’s Beautiful Blackbird and other education materials about the Maine artist, author, and illustrator, whose work was exhibited at the museum through March.

12:53 p.m., Feb. 12, 2021

Maine New Cases 7 Day Average: 194
Total ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Student Cases During a Week of Return Testing: 6

Two ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ professors, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Jennifer Koviach-Côté and colleague April Hill, Wagener Family Professor of Equity and Inclusion in STEM, greet and guide students to a waiting area in Merrill Gymnasium where they await their screening results.

As part of the February return, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ implemented a second type of COVID-19 screening, known as rapid antigen screening, in addition to the twice-weekly PCR test.

A rapid antigen screen yields results within minutes, while a PCR test — the gold standard for testing — yields results in about a day. Rapid results help ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ identify active cases of COVID-19 quickly and thus immediately begin isolation protocol.

1:04 p.m., Feb. 24, 2021

It doesn’t take much to lure Bobcats out into the open. On a calm and bright February day, students took their lunches to sunny spots on Garcelon Field and elsewhere.

12:11 p.m., March 7, 2021

Maine New Cases 7 Day Average: 167
Total ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Student for the Prior Week: 3

“I think I’m always looking for new perspectives,” says Katia Ryan ’23 of Amsterdam, N.Y., leading a group of her fellow Bobcats on a Sunday morning session of yoga on Lake Andrews.

“You can have the same practice be it on land, ice, water and have a completely different experience,” Ryan says. “At ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ we are looking for new ways to connect to the campus we love. Sometimes all you need is a fresh perspective.â€�

On a Monday in early November, Associate Professor of Biology Brett Huggett was listening in on the state’s daily COVID-19 briefing, when a term used by Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, caught his attention: ultra-cold storage. 

That day, Nov. 9, Pfizer had just announced extremely positive findings from its early analysis of its coronavirus vaccine. And already, Shah was planning, in what Mainers had come to know as his cautiously optimistic way, to be ready if the vaccine was authorized for use.

“As you note,â€� Shah said to one reporter during the briefing. “It does require ultra-cold storage.â€� Minus 80 degrees Celsius, to be precise, or minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Many of the other vaccines coming down the pike required cold storage as well, so Shah and his colleagues at Maine CDC and at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services had already been in touch with Maine hospitals small and large, done an inventory, and found that the grand total in the state was five hospitals with such ultra cold freezers. 

The doctor didn’t say it, but that’s five hospitals spread out across a state of 35,385 square miles. The math wasn’t great. Central Maine Medical Center had one of them in its research department but it was small. “Small is a kind word,� said Bruce Campbell ’76, director of pharmacy at the Lewiston hospital. “It was tiny. Two cubic feet.�

As Shah spoke, Huggett thought about his plant samples, nestled in a So-Low ultra-cold freezer in Carnegie Science Hall, The freezers aren’t cheap, usually $10,000 or more, Huggett says, but at colleges and universities where scientific research is a core component, they’re “ubiquitous.� 

COVID-19 vaccines arrive at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center on Dec. 15, 2020. Bruce Campbell ’76 (in gray suite and tie), director of the pharmacy at Central Maine Medical Center, helps out. The two hospitals are coordinating on the vaccination effort.

Shah told another reporter a tricky thing about the Pfizer vaccine. If it came — that is, if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it — the vaccine would arrive in big batches, 975 doses in all.

“Now we have an additional question,â€� Shah said. “Not just whether you have an ultra-cold freezer, but how much space do you have in it? How much can you free up and so forth.â€� 

“Basically I said, ‘Geoff, there’s a need for negative-80 freezers, and I have one that could be freed up completely.’�

Huggett had just in the journal Trees. He and five other scientists, including one of his former students, Emma Dunn ‘17, had been studying the impacts of a fungal pathogen on the Eastern white pine, specifically needle damage and chronic defoliation that already had slowed growth rates in this classic Maine tree.

But what the researchers were focusing on was the impact the defoliation had on the trees’ ability to store non-structural carbohydrates in stems, root, and foliar tissues, and they’d discovered that the trees had prioritized storage over secondary growth.

That’s where the freezers were essential. Whisking samples into an ultra-cold freezer preserves a plant until samples could undergo chemical analyses. And by November 2020, any excess sample material Huggett still had stashed in the freezer was ready to be relocated to a smaller freezer. 

Moreover, Huggett wasn’t using ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ only freezer, there were others in biology as well as some in the chemistry and neuroscience departments.

Huggett emailed Geoff Swift, vice president for finance and administration. “Basically I said, ‘Geoff, there’s a need for negative-80 freezers within the state of Maine and I have one that could be freed up completely,’� Huggett recalls.

“It might have taken me a full 30 seconds to say, after Geoff said, ‘Can you use one of those things?’ for me to say, ‘I’m in the car.’�

Swift took that idea and reached out to the natural science faculty and staff. After assessing what was available, he invited representatives from neighboring Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center to come see what ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ could share, five freezers in all — and assess what would be suitable. 

At Central Maine Medical Center, Bruce Campbell had been presuming he’d have to make do with the two cubic foot ultra-cold freezer he had on hand. Nationally, demand for new units has outstripped supply. “If we couldn’t prove that we had the storage ability, then the vaccine would, appropriately, go elsewhere.

“It might have taken me a full 30 seconds to say, after Geoff said, ‘Can you use one of those things?’ for me to say, ‘I’m in the car.’�

Ultimately Campbell asked for two ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ units, a 19-cubic-foot upright from the chemistry department and a 5-cubic-foot chest-style freezer from biology. They were moved from the campus to the medical center earlier this month. 

The freezer Huggett had been using for those white pine tree samples went to St. Mary’s early last week. By this week, the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ units were already being put to use when the two hospitals split a shipment of the Pfizer vaccine. And on Wednesday, Dr. Imad Durra became the first Central Maine Healthcare team member to get the vaccine.

“I love this effort,” says Swift. “The best of quick action by faculty and staff, plus college and community connectivity.” Even the legal part — drafting documents regarding the loan — went smoothly. “All the conversations were, ‘This is easy —we are friendly parties working for what’s best. It’s a small town, and we’re all working together.”

(Also involved in the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ cooperative effort have been faculty members Don Dearborn, Matt Côté, and Nancy Koven, and staff members Sonya Locke and Jonathan Witt.)

Campbell was there as a relieved and grateful witness to the first, extremely welcome vaccinations of Central Maine staff. “It is palpable, when you are standing here, when you are looking at people standing in line and they are just so happy.â€� 

“This partnership is one of the things I have been most proud of,â€� Campbell says. 

After the vaccine injection, there’s a 15-minutes precautionary wait to check for any negative response. As the newly vaccinated staff waited their 15 minutes, Campbell could tell that they were “just sort of reflecting. Their eyes well up.� An anesthesiologist asked Campbell to take a photo of him getting his shot. “Because this is life changing for me,� the anesthesiologist told him.

Campbell is reflecting on the “thoughtfulnessâ€� of the science faculty at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ who were so willing to share, as well as his long relationship with ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, dating back to middle school, when ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ education students came to his classroom to mentor students. “This partnership is one of the things I have been most proud of,â€� Campbell says. 

Across the state, colleges and universities are helping with vaccine storage. Southern Maine Community College, the University of New England, and Colby have all loaned freezers, and Bowdoin, Unity College and the University of Maine system have freezers on standby. 

This is the way institutions and people can step up, Huggett says, reflecting on how, early in the pandemic, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and other Maine colleges helped with the PPE shortage. 

“It was actually last week on the CDC briefing that Dr. Shah was saying that if we want to get through this pandemic, we really need to think about our community and within our community, and act with best practices and concern for those around us.

“Many of us have been constantly thinking about how we can help out through this pandemic,â€� he added.“This really seemed like an obvious way in which ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ could help.â€�

The show must go on, said Christine Schwartz, even if it’s more like theater in a box.

In late October, after ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ saw a brief uptick in student COVID-19 cases, “we struggled whether to go aheadâ€� with the annual Harvest Meal, says Schwartz, who oversees the college’s dining, events, and conferences operation.

“I mean, what do you do? What should we do?�

Since reopening in August under COVID-19 protocols, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dining has operated as a take-out program. Gone are multi-hour, sit-down meals. Gone is mixing and matching myriad menu items to create one’s own showstopper (topped with sriracha, of course). Even the venerable Napkin Board is now entirely remote.

These days, when students walk into Commons, all the food that awaits them — entrees, sandwiches and wrap, snacks, condiments, and desserts — is either pre-packaged in single-serve boxes or served from steam trays by Dining Services staff working behind plexiglass windows. Only beverages are self-serve. Once the student has their food, out they go. 

The issue around Harvest Meal for Schwartz and her longtime colleague, Director of Dining Services Cheryl Lacey, wasn’t entirely about safety. Their operation already features physical distancing, universal masking, staff working behind plexiglass windows — unfortunately limiting interaction with students — no indoor dining, including no Bobcat Den, and extensive cleaning protocols. 

The challenge was existential: Could such a thing as a Harvest Meal exist as a take-out concept? Without all the trimmings (food and otherwise), like horse-and-carriage rides, ice sculptures, and other theme-inspired decorations?

“In the end, we decided we had to do it,â€� said Schwartz. “There has to be some sense of continuation of normalcy — whatever that normal is.â€� 

The burden in the end fell mostly on the menu (plus lots of inflatables around the theme “Life’s a Beach”) a range of familiar and comforting fare of a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Harvest Meal, starting with roasted turkey. There was also beef brisket encrusted with brown sugar and chili; seafood chowder; roasted eggplant with artichokes and spinach; and green bean and tofu casserole, among other options.

This is just the most recent chapter in what for Schwartz and Lacey has been a massive effort to give ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ 1,700 on-campus students a normal dining experience, unfolding against a backdrop of anything but normal as students made the transition from sit-down meals in Commons to grab-and-go dining, dubbed “Dash.â€� 

Along the way some interesting things have happened, giving rise to some concerns about post-pandemic dining.

For one, the staff has noticed that many students have compressed their three meals into two, “treating breakfast and lunch as one meal and dinner as another,� says Schwartz, “or treating dinner and the next day’s breakfast as one meal, and lunch as another.�

This doesn’t mean they’ve created some kind of delicate brunch. This is about loading up on take-out items at breakfast, then skipping lunch and returning for dinner. Or, loading up at dinner and skipping the next morning’s breakfast. The convenience of take-out food means they can stockpile snacks and even entire meals in their dorm rooms if they have fridges.  

“It’s an interesting trend,â€� Schwartz says, providing evidence that “skippingâ€� meals does not mean eating less, according to what one might call the Nugget Index. “In the past, we would go through 42 cases of chicken nuggets” — that’s 420 pounds — “on days we serve them. Now when we serve chicken nuggets, we go through 56 cases.â€�

The so-called Nugget Index does more than indicate how much students eat; it also shows what they care about — and those things, whether large or seemingly small, are what Dining Services wants to help sustain, those “extremely important items of comfort food, whether entrees or condiments, that speak to what they love about Commons, from thin-crust pizza and hot vegan options to bagels, guacamole, salsa, and sriracha,â€� says Schwartz.

And chocolate milk. Students love chocolate milk. But this fall the college’s dairy provider stopped providing the product in large bags. So Dining Services put out chocolate syrup next to the milk. But there was an unexpected learning curve: Some students had never made chocolate milk from syrup, “so we had to put a recipe cardâ€� next to the syrup, says Schwartz. 

For students who are in isolation or quarantine due to COVID, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ has partnered with student-run delivery app Easy Eats to support meal delivery to students who aren’t able to come to Commons for meals. “We also hope this becomes a platform through which students with special dietary needs can communicate with our operation in a more robust way.â€� 

Efforts by Dining Services such as the Dash program have been a big part of the college’s successful effort to reopen and stay open. Still, Schwartz and Lacey look warily at how the convenience and success of the Dash program might affect their pandemic-free future. 

“I mean, it does scare us,� says Schwartz. “None of us have spent our careers to create and perfect a pass-by dining program. It’s not what we are designed to do and it’s not who we want to be.

“You need to have casual interactionsâ€� before an acquaintance becomes a friend. “That’s what Commons provides.”

“In the future, I think it’s going to be tough for us to get totally away from grab-and-go. It depends on how long the pandemic lasts. Right now, students’ memories of the communal experience and the relationships they can build in Commons are still pretty strong. If we can flip back in the next six months, we have a good chance of being able to do away with grab-and-go. If it runs much longer than that, to-go dining becomes a norm.â€�

At least anecdotally, students feel a strong need to go back to the old ways. Dining in Commons, they say, helps them navigate ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ life, specifically how it helps students make new friendships.

“You need to have casual interactionsâ€� before an acquaintance becomes a friend, says Mei Kane ’23 of New York City. “That’s what Commons provides,â€� a chance to spend time in proximity with people you previously only knew by sight. “It’s especially helpful to meet seniors, since they often live off campus or in suites.â€� 

More than a meal place, “Commons is a social space for me,â€� says Ali Manning ’23 of Sydney, Australia. “I used to sit in Commons from 5 to 7 in the evening, just catching up with friends and relaxing after long days of classes and before starting our homework. It’s more than the food.â€�

The Dash program works well, she says, and “I deeply appreciate the work and effort that our dining staff puts into it. It’s not the same but I am sure that most students would say it’s a sacrifice we’re okay with making to stay safe and healthy.�

Maintaining a sustainable ethic has also been a challenge, since the Dash program relies on throwaway packaging (though as much packaging as possible is made from 100-percent recycled materials.)

Lacey knows there is a base of students, including EcoReps, who “lament that we are using so many disposables.� She hopes those same students, with support from Dining Services and the college’s Sustainability Office, will help a return to sustainable practices, post-pandemic.

“The most effective change that we see among students is often peer-led,â€� she says. “And I think we will have enough peers who will lead our students away from the disposable trendâ€� when post-pandemic life arrives at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. “I think we will get strong support from those students.â€�

Through a thankfully mild fall, the scenes of students eating outdoors here and there, on Alumni Walk, in the new Adirondack chairs, or on Garcelon Field, were idyllic. As cold weather takes hold, and outdoor dining becomes unlikely, Schwartz and her team are constrained by Maine occupancy limits for indoor gatherings, whether dining or not: 50 people per any given room.

“Everything this fall was more difficult than before, but you guys nailed it.”

“We could have up to 50 seats up in the mezzanine� of Commons, Schwartz explains, as the main dining room will still be used for physically distanced food service. “But other campus rooms large enough to accommodate 50 people are already being used for something equally important.�

But there’s no throwing in the towel for Schwartz and her team. “We will always look at ways to build community through dining. We will try to keep the memory alive of the magical experience of Commons for when, someday, we all can dine together again.�

And what about the years’ Harvest Meal? Students loved both the food and the effort, including umpteen inflatables around the theme, “Life’s a Beach.” Vanessa Paolella ’21, editor-in-chief of The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Student, gave a public shoutout in her paper:

“Thank you to all of the Commons workers who have gone above and beyond to keep us fed this semester. Everything this fall was more difficult than before, but you guys nailed it.”

Ever since the conference’s formation in 1971, off-season workouts with coaches have been a NESCAC no-no. But under that recognize the loss of games and competitions due to COVID-19, NESCAC spring sports coaches were allowed to work with their teams this fall.

For first-year ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Bobcats in traditional spring sports like baseball, lacrosse, and softball, being allowed to practice with their coaches and new teammates right away this fall has been a unique experience in a unique time — and a silver lining in an otherwise difficult transition to college.

Video by Aaron Morse/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College

“I lost my season last year, and it was hard to practice over the summer,” said men’s lacrosse player Lowell Hairston ’24 of Reisterstown, Md.

“Just being out on the field in any capacity has been honestly fantastic. Even with the modified drills with less people on the field and not being able to hit each other, it’s been so worth it.”

For head men’s lacrosse coach Peter Lasagna, being able to bound around Garcelon Field with his team “has been an exquisite joy. The reason why we know each other, the reason that we are connected, is because of our shared passion for lacrosse. For us to be able to actually experience that together in their first months of college has just been wonderful.”

They aren’t necessarily “normal” practices, with drills being modified to fit physical-distancing guidelines and, you know, everyone wearing masks. But to first-year students, none of that really matters.

Getting to know the coaches right away has been a crucial component of the fall practices for spring sports student-athletes. Hairston is already learning a lot about coach Lasagna.

“He’s honestly one of the most empathetic people,” Hairston said. “But he’s also just funny and knows when to get serious on the field too.”

Over at Leahey Field, pitcher Jack Potash ’24 of Seymour, Conn., was able to face live hitting for the first time in an entire year.

“I have been pitching pretty much since I have been playing baseball,” Potash said. “I did not get a chance to play this summer so it felt good; it’s always nice to go back on the mound.”

Learning from older peers is a big aspect of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ experience as a whole. And it’s no different in the world of athletics. One thing the more experienced Bobcats have emphasized is that flexibility is the key to success.

“Being able to adapt to different situations is definitely a huge thing,” said women’s lacrosse player Madie Donovan ’24 of Cohasset, Mass. “I think our upperclassmen are awesome and have really helped with that transition, you know getting up to speed with lifting and practices and class, all at the same time.”

When it comes down to it, the strong ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community continues to shine through, even in difficult times.

“I just love it here,” Hairston said. “I have not had an experience like this. I have not been able to be in a community like this in…forever. So this is truly unique.”