Georgetown’s severe COVID restrictions are nonsensical — and destroying my senior year

Georgetown’s restrictions are so nonsensical that they seem spiteful.

While all campus facilities are shut down, the university curiously left housing open so that students are not entitled to any refund for their missed time, as they were during the fully virtual 2020-21 school year. This refund is significant when tuition alone is $60,000 each year. Instead, students are left paying the full cost without any of the benefits of a campus. Apparently the virus spreads in classrooms but not dorm rooms.

In defense of maintaining the maximum tuition rate despite the shutdown, Georgetown Provost Robert Groves claimed “campus will be open and functional during this period.”

This assertion is laughable. The quality of a campus where the classrooms, student centers, gym and dining hall are shut down is obviously near zero, but by making a return to school “optional” the university can maximize profits at students expense.

The school also makes a tremendous amount of money from its historically good basketball program, so students are allowed to attend the games in droves but cannot sit in class. The university’s priorities are clear, and they are not public health or students’ interests.