If the robins and squirrels who populate the Siena campus are puzzled as to the spring absence of 3,000 students, they aren’t saying anything.
They do have a little bit of human company, though. Even with all classes being taught remotely, the campus is not completely devoid of employees. A handful of faculty and staff who have advance clearance come in to conduct research, teach or work, although not on a daily basis. It’s Public Safety, Community Living and Facilities that are truly holding it down on campus, waiting for the safe return of students and all those who teach and support them.
Public Safety Officer Rick Bagnoli, a 42-year veteran of the department, said this is the first time he can recall a campus situation as unusual as this.
“It’s like a ghost town, but we’re still here protecting the property 24/7, and any people who come and go.”
Areas where people are working are regularly disinfected, and anyone on campus needs to be masked up and gloved, and socially distance themselves from anyone else they might see.
Bagnoli, fellow Officer Colleen Riley and others In Public Safety are maintaining regular patrols of the campus and its buildings. The occasional jogger or dog walker from the Loudonville neighborhood comes through, and every once in a while someone stops to light a candle in the Grotto.
Only the front gate on Route 9 is open; anyone coming to campus has to check in with an officer there. Another crop of visitors comes in courtesy of Admissions, which has designed a safe drive-through tour of the campus, so prospective students and their families can check out Siena in person.
“I’m getting to meet a lot more new people than I usually see,” said Riley.
“It’s been so quiet. I just want to tell everyone to hang in there – we’ll all be back, and in the meantime, we’ll keep everything safe.”
There are fewer than 20 international students remaining on campus, and Rose O’Callaghan, a community living area coordinator who lives in Cushing Village, is keeping them company on the northeastern end of campus. There’s also a lot of Student Life business to attend to: conducting the room selection process, answering calls and emails from students, and making advance plans for September, when it is hoped students will be back on campus if state regulations allow.
O’Callaghan echoes Officer Bagnoli’s observation that Siena feels “like a ghost town,” and sympathizes with the students, especially the seniors, who would have been celebrating the end of college life.
“My heart goes out to them. This is a very different ending to their four years than they expected.”
O’Callaghan hopes everyone stays safe and healthy.
“I miss the students, Normally, everyone would be outside now playing games and grilling; a lot of laughter and good times. The townhouses are never quiet and now…they are.”
Facilities employees have been keeping busy on campus grounds and inside buildings. Mark Frost, assistant vice president for facilities management, said grounds crews have been doing “a ton of spring cleanup,” removing dead branches and leaves, clearing storm water drains, and prepping areas for landscaping. A small custodial staff comes in daily to keep work areas scrupulously clean, and employees in the garage and trade shops are also at work – in masks, and at least six feet apart. Extensive floor maintenance is also underway – a job that can’t be done with everyone in residence and in class - as well as preventive upkeep on heating, plumbing and other systems.
Frost said regular mowing is next on the task list, once the spring rains let up.
“The weather hasn’t really been cooperating on that front.”
He walks the campus daily to inspect buildings and projects. He said a walkthrough this week in the Marcelle Athletic Complex was “a little eerie.
“It was totally dark and there wasn’t a soul around.”