College is fun. It’s a great time to meet new people and connect with people you’ve already met. It’s the perfect opportunity to grow a social life by going to class, participating in clubs and intramurals and simply experiencing life on campus. Partying is also a fun way for many students to interact and meet new people. 

However, we are in a pandemic. 

 This year is difficult because we don’t get to have every event and experience that we are used to having. There are no football games, no big events where we can all interact and get to know each other on campus. And to be honest, it really sucks. 

But what we do have is classes in person. We have an open campus where we can eat together and spend time with friends. And that’s not something that every college student gets.  

The point is that even though we aren’t getting the ideal college experience, it’s better than nothing. It’s important that we as a community do what we can to keep it that way. The parties that are being held off campus are jeopardizing that. 

Deny it if you want. Rationalize it if you want. The fact remains that gatherings of 40 plus maskless people have been taking place so close to the university, and they shouldn’t be.

Perhaps it’s possible that a block of 10 houses on either side of the street could own and need space for 30 or more cars regularly. It’s fairly unlikely and would also like to point out the fact that they don’t return for the rest of the week, nor do they have Buffalo County license plates. Perhaps they just moved to town, or perhaps Kearney is the late night family reunion capital of Nebraska— all good explanations.

But it’s pretty obvious what’s actually going on here.

It was probably never the intention of the partiers to hide what was going on in the first place. I wouldn’t guess that it was considering the mass of people standing outside clearly visible from the Nester parking lot two weeks back— caught on numerous phone cameras and Snapchat stories for anyone to see.

These kinds of things make the student body look bad. It’s not a good look to be out partying during a pandemic when these actions could directly impact how long UNK students get to stay on campus, how students have access to resources at UNK, and maybe how long some of faculty and peers may get live safely among us. 

A common saying that gets thrown around is, ‘There’s nothing else to do!’ With a little creativity and some effort, students can come up with plenty of things to do. Pinterest is a great place to look for cute fall activities that are more safe and still fun and social. Instead of just sitting around, you can go to a drive-in movie, have a picnic and maybe even go stargazing with your friends. 

But for UNK’s sake and everyone else’s, please just stay home.

If students keep partying right now, the odds that students get sent home and have fewer parties are higher. That’s a lose-lose situation. But if the partying stops, at least until things return to normal, then when things do eventually get better students can gather as much as they want without worry. 

Now that is a win-win we can all get behind.

And one, unfortunately, that not enough of the right people will give the time of day.

There is already a lot of controversy behind the COVID-19 regulations on campus. Don’t add to it. Please be responsible and avoid large gatherings for the greater good of UNK.