by Jilleen Barrett, A&E Editor
After a long winter break, many students are returning to campus to learn in-person. While most are concerned with avoiding contact with those who have contracted the virus, the OneManhattan ambassadors will continue to assist everyone by encouraging the entire Manhattan College community to follow safety procedures.
Frenki-Samuel Lulgjuraj, a freshman, is one of the ambassadors for OneManhattan. He feels the fall semester went smoothly because of the effort put in by the students on campus.
“I think the fall semester went pretty well regarding COVID-19 safety, as students became more aware of it,” Lulgjuraj said. “I feel like a big part of being safe was that no students would want to jeopardize their privilege of safe in-person classes. Thus, students were really understanding and made the ambassadors’ ‘job’ a lot easier.”
Pete McHugh, director of Media Relations and Strategic Communications at MC, has been working with Jaspers Return to make the school a safe environment during the remainder of the pandemic. He strongly advises students to continue being as careful as possible.
“We trust our campus community to continue to look out for one another,” McHugh said. “We’re all in this together… the more we take proactive measures to stop the spread– wearing a mask, washing hands, participating in regular testing– the better chance we have of keeping our case count low and keeping our friends and family safe and healthy.”
Though Lulgjuraj’s first year of college does not look the way he thought it would, he feels he is still getting the opportunity to contribute to the school in the way he wanted to before the pandemic started.
“When I committed to MC last year, I was really looking forward to becoming an active member of the community and making the most out of my college experience,” Lulgjuraj said. “However, COVID-19 limited my possibilities for the semester, as most activities went virtual or were postponed… I felt like this program would allow me to know more about the school and from a different perspective… I felt like One Manhattan would be a continuation of my various community service experiences.”
As for the future of the pandemic, vaccines are beginning to be administered but there is no specific time when students should expect to be eligible to receive it– however, Provost Schreiner said in an email to the student body that he believes there is reason to have hope.
“The vaccine is rolling out,” Schreiner wrote. “Those at most risk from the virus in our community are already in the process of receiving their doses… brighter days are definitely on the horizon. Remember we are all in this together– Together, we are OneManhattan and will achieve a full return to campus soon.”
McHugh agrees and stated that Manhattan College will do whatever it takes to make sure the community gets vaccinated and can safely attend classes in-person.
“We encourage anyone to get vaccinated when they’re eligible…we don’t have a timeline and will follow the guidance of the city and state when it’s appropriate,” McHugh said. “Right now, many students aren’t eligible yet to receive vaccines, but as soon as they are, we hope to be in a position to