By Adam Homel ‘21

Two weeks ago, Marquette University, located in Milwaukee, WI, had to quarantine two dorm buildings, Cobeen Hall and Schroeder Hall.

Marquette sent emails to parents containing concerning news. Over 10% of students came back positive and 3% of residents in Schroeder Hall came back positive.

Olivia Homel ‘22 said, “Juniors and seniors live in houses or apartments. I live in an apartment so the residents are less likely to get COVID. Also, if we get COVID we already have a plan for the person that gets it.”

Marquette is requiring that students who test positive must be in isolation. They have designated floors for students that have to stay, or they could leave the school in a private vehicle and isolate somewhere else. Students are to be in isolation for 14 days and everyone is supposed to complete COVID check each day. Students are asked to stay in their dorms and email their professors that they will not be attending the in-person class.

Brother Rice grad Charlie Kleist said, “I am in Abbotsford, so I don’t have to quarantine for 14 days. Marquette sends out many rules, but they don’t enforce it as well. However the students do a good job by following these rules.”

Not all residents are stuck in these two buildings. Residents who have had a positive test in the past 90 days will not be retested and do not need to be quarantined if they are in one of the two dorm buildings.

“The people in the dorms can go out for 50 minutes a day, but they must stay around their own dorm building,” said BR grad Marco Braschi. “Both of the dorm buildings have public bathrooms so this could be a cause of the outbreak in both buildings.”

Marquette is trying their best to stop the spread of COVID on their campus. They are issuing rules to make sure their students feel safe around the campus.