May 11, 2021
A student-led initiative will fill in an area of Mac Field with native prairie plants. Photo by Kaya Matsuura.
By MJ Old
oldmadel@grinnell.edu
A patch of tallgrass prairie is coming to North Campus. Since the beginning of spring, a group of students supported by the Center for Prairie Studies has planned to replace the sod on a patch of Mac Field, the triangle where the sidewalks meet outside of Harris Center, with 6,200 prairie plants.
“The fact that it’s surrounded on all sides by sidewalk makes it easier to maintain and prevent invasive species from getting up inside the prairie,” said Tommy Hexter `21, who helped lead the project.
bakerni@grinnell.edu
Low COVID-19 positivity rates at Grinnell College have driven the administration to relax previously strict pandemic precautions, but after close to a year of the College’s highly restrictive safety policy, some students are questioning the changes – as well as what they may reveal about the College’s priorities.
The College’s decision to
invite back all first-year students for Spring Term 1 and to invite second- and fourth-year students for Spring Term 2, as well as the gradual relaxation of COVID-19 precautions, has been based off consistently low positivity rates this year.
Only one student living in Grinnell has tested positive for COVID-19 since the week of March 1. Since the beginning of the Spring semester, 16 students out of 907 have tested positive for COVID-19, as well as one reported positive case from an additional site.
College agrees to some mailroom worker demands, but not all thesandb.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thesandb.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In Grinnell, the cold has settled in.
A soft blanket of snow coats the whole campus, muting the sound of footsteps, so silent that it is a constant reminder of what could have been.
While it is a far cry from the boisterous nature of Grinnell in the past, the chill has not dampened the spirits of new Grinnellians huddled together in the dorms.
With the beginning of Spring 1, Grinnell College invited all first-years and select upperclassmen to live on campus, in addition to students who received permission to live on campus in Fall 1 and 2. Students began moving in the last week of January at staggered times, based on their dorm assignments.
Grinnell College students in isolation say they feel abandoned by the school thesandb.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thesandb.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.