CAMPUS

Keeping with tradition

Despite pandemic, WPI celebrates annual Earle Bridge Crossing Sunday

Scott O'Connell
Scott.O'Connell@telegram.com
Students from the WPI class of 2024 take part in the annual Earle Bridge Crossing on Sunday in socially distanced waves.

WORCESTER – Like many things so far this year, Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Earle Bridge Crossing didn’t look quite the same as usual Sunday, but happened nonetheless.

Wearing masks and staying six feet apart, the first of what the university expected to be up to 1,300 first-year students crossed the bridge shortly after noon, carrying on a long tradition at WPI.

The short walk over West Street toward Boynton Hall signifies the beginning of students’ time at the school, and will be bookended by their crossing again upon their graduation four years from now.

"I love the idea of it," said Olivia Garrity of Haverhill, the first member of the class of 2024 lined up to cross on Sunday. "I think it’s great for the school to have a tradition like this – it makes it feel like a big family."

"It’s like initiating you to WPI, and really to your journey in life," said fellow freshman Matt Sweeney of Billerica. "It’s still something important to take part in."

Because of the coronavirus, however, what would normally take an hour – with all students walking together across the bridge – was expected to take all day at WPI on Sunday, as small waves of students made the walk, one at a time.

Faculty, staff and other supporters also were not allowed to cheer on this year's class, whose crossing was livestreamed over social media for those who couldn't attend.

But WPI President Laurie Leshin, who took the custom seriously enough that she had been avoiding crossing the bridge until first-year students got to go across Sunday, said it was worthwhile to try to maintain the tradition even in the face of a pandemic.

"This is one of our most sacred traditions," she said. "I give the students a ton of credit for figuring out how to do it safely."

The event was coordinated by the university's Student Alumni Society.

WPI, which is one of a handful of colleges in the region attempting to reopen its campus this summer, by Sunday had moved in most of its residential students, and was preparing to begin classes today (Monday).

Like most colleges this fall, however, it will be blending in-person and remote learning this semester, both to facilitate social distancing and to accommodate students who couldn’t take the risk coming to campus.

"We’re going to have the same standards, the same faculty, the same experience – if anything, maybe there will be a little more flexibility, in terms of timing," said Art Heinricher, WPI’s Dean of Undergraduate Studies. He also expressed confidence in the hybrid model, saying "some of the things we’re adjusting for the students would be good ideas at any time."

Students, meanwhile, who have had to submit to COVID-19 testing and practice social distancing while moving about campus, said they feel comfortable so  far, even with the specter of the virus hovering.

"I have a lot of faith in the way WPI’s handling things," said first-year student Gabe Espinosa of Seattle, Washington. "I feel safe, I think we all feel safe."

As of Sunday, WPI’s own testing so far has found four positive COVID cases out of more than 8,000 tested, two of which were from the past seven days. There were two students in isolation at the school, and 12 in quarantine, according to the university’s data dashboard.

Scott O’Connell can be reached at Scott.O’Connell@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @ScottOConnellTG

Freshman Rachel Grandmaison of Auburn crosses the Earle Bridge, an annual tradition at the college for the incoming first-year students.