Almost every aspect of life has been altered in some way because of COVID-19, including going back to school. ETSU has made many changes in order to respond to these circumstances between moving many classes online, requiring face coverings on campus and sanitizing campus spaces more frequently. From a safety standpoint, these are positive changes, but there is another important change that was added this semester that may negatively impact students.
Anyone who lives on campus is required to sign a housing agreement, and there is a section in the COVID-19 wellness addendum to the agreement titled “Force Majeure.” In the addendum, a force majeure is defined as “including but not limited to… plagues, epidemics, pandemics, acts of governmental authorities, or any other occurrence beyond the University’s reasonable control.” The addendum later says that the university does not have to reimburse students for room and board or dining services if a force majeure occurs.
The agreement says, “In the event of a force majeure, the University reserves the right to modify, suspend or terminate housing accommodations and access to dining services, and may not reimburse or prorate charges related to room and board.”
So, if the university decides to close this semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they can legally remove students from their on-campus housing and not give them a refund.
This agreement could be harmful to students. Students pay thousands of dollars to live on campus and have access to dining. If the university decides to close these areas, they should be obligated to refund students for the remainder of the agreement. This addendum takes advantage of students, and if the circumstances arose, the university would profit off the displacement of students. Students could not only lose their housing and the money they paid toward it, but they would probably lose even more money in order to pay for travel and housing costs elsewhere.
If students were displaced due to closure, some could need to travel back home, which might require purchasing a plane ticket or other lodging costs. Other people may only be able to stay locally due to jobs or other circumstances and will have to find permanent housing in the area, which is also expensive. Many students and their families do not just have hundreds of dollars to drop at once in order to cover these costs.
No institution is perfect, but to me, it seems like ETSU usually tries to do right by their students. However, this policy is not reflective of that belief and would be detrimental to many students. It is disappointing to see that ETSU is willing to put their students in possible distress for the sake of a profit, and I hope that the university will see the harm they would be inflicting on their students and revise or eliminate the force majeure addendum.
