By Nefertiti Washington, Staff Writer

Transferring from a different CUNY campus or other university to Lehman College was made difficult by COVID-19. Many students were unfamiliar with the various methods of accessing their information, while departments such as Admissions and Financial Aid worked remotely. 

To ease the transition, Lehman College’s Social Work Department director,Dr.Brenda Williams-Gray offered students a tour of the campus on February 9th. Many social work students found it beneficial.They felt this was a nice welcome to campus on her part for students.

Lehman College has reopened to all vaccinated students, but many reported feeling unprepared for the new semester. Many students were worried that they would not be able to attend classes, their registration would be dropped due to not being vaccinated, they would not be cleared after providing proof and confused over finding the correct gate openings. Lehmanites wondered if the accessibility of classes from the gates were taken into consideration when re-opening was planned by Lehman Department heads. 

Ashley Castillo, a student with disabilities feels unheard and believes there are issues to be rectified.She expressed “Having to walk extreme distances to get to my classes is inconvenient. It’s causing me physical strain and makes getting to class unenjoyable.” The Lehman College experience should not be dreadful considering the return to campus was thoroughly planned. Minor adjustments such as laminated posters tied to the gates with visible  instructions visible for students would ensure a successful transition next semester.

For proper air circulation, posters are on doors stating that the windows need to be cracked during class usage, which lowers the classroom temperature. This causes students to sit in a classroom with their coats on and can lead to sickness. Students and staff must use PPE equipment on campus, but there are no visible signs that the equipment is available for them to access within classes noris it  consistently or equally distributed.

The Spring 2022 CUNY Covid-19 policy indicates that along with social distancing in class, students would be provided PPE equipment and sanitizing stations. Yet, we are not seeing it executed. InsideCarman Hallthe female bathroom on the second floor does not have hot water for appropriate hand washing. 

Handwashing should be done at temperatures ranging from 104°F to 131°F. Rarely is anyone maintaining classrooms, hallways, and bathrooms as far as keeping it sanitary. How are they ensuring our overall health? If we don’t see anyone representing the janitorial staff cleaning in between classes or in general.

Why wasn't an email sent advising pupils about social distance amongst each other? The use of material and air filters are in place, but the Lehman population is ill-informed on how often the classrooms are cleaned and air filters are changed or cleaned to ensure students that their priority is our health.

Lehman College's campus directory is outdated and affects students' mental health and their ability to get specific things handled. With students being in working positions on campus and not known as much as regular staff, you can get bounced around or misinformed with who resolves your inquiry. It is stressful for students to get tossed around different departments and realize no one is in the position to assist them. This is a feeling shared amongst Lehmanites all around campus.

The big question is, how can we make the Lehman experience better and properly advocate for ourselves? Our campus is packed with student resources in the form of The Student Disability department, Student Government Association, and Student Life building. Lehmaniteur voices need to be heard on a bigger platform and to cause action and change.

We need a resolution to all this confusion and concern as students living the Lehman campus life, post covid.