A private liberal arts college in Michigan with about 1,500 students will require all students this fall to download a geographic tracking app to their smartphones and stay within the school’s 4½-mile wide perimeter the entire semester in an attempt to create a “COVID bubble,” the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Albion College, located in Albion, Michigan, about an hour and a half east of Detroit, is mandating all students install the “Aura” software, which will track their location and health data, the Free Beacon said.
The student’s phone will act as a global positioning software device, alerting school officials if they leave campus. Students also must keep their phone’s location service activated at all times, Newsweek reported, and face temporary suspension if they leave campus.
Members of the campus staff, such as professors, administrators, and support personnel, however, will be allowed to leave “the bubble.”
Albion did not comment on why staff could come and go but students could not.
"I feel like I am being treated like a five-year-old that cannot be trusted to follow rules," senior Andrew Arszulowicz said. "If the school believes masks work … why are we not allowed to leave if they work? It does not make sense to me."
Albion is not offering remote, or virtual online, classes, so any student who does not comply will have to defer until the spring semester.
Students will be required to submit to a test for the novel coronavirus upon return, but it was not clear how often the school will require additional screenings during the 14-week semester. The results will be stored on the Aura app. Students also will have to quarantine for three days after arrival.
Anyone wishing to leave the campus for “approved” activities, such as medical appointments, religious services and “significant family obligations,” must request permission via an online form five days in advance.
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