Drexel recently announced that, as of fall term, it is offering a new esport business program, created for students interested in careers in the professional video gaming industry. Those enrolled in this new program will earn a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree.

The decision by Drexel to create the esport business program comes as the multi-billion dollar gaming industry is growing rapidly and attracting a wide audience.

“As the [competitive video gaming] industry expands, there are increasing job opportunities in areas related to professional and recreational esports, including law, event management, facility management, marketing and more,” Drexel’s LeBow College of Business wrote on its website.

For students who are interested in this program, but not as their primary area of study, a minor in esports is being offered through the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, as well.

According to Dr. Michael Wagner, the head of the Digital Media department in the Westphal College, this new esport business program is a great extension of the already-established game design program within Westphal.

“This [new program] will allow students not only to get hands-on insight in the development of digital games, but it will also give them the opportunity to interface with game design student teams for the purpose of developing new and innovative esports game titles,” Wagner said.

Although Drexel, as well as other universities, has a wide variety of esports-oriented clubs and student organizations, it is one of the first to create a degree program dedicated to the booming industry.

“With the ability to develop a strong business core and specialize in topics specific to the esports industry, such as game design and strategy, students who major in esport business will have a unique background and the requisite knowledge needed to stand out from other candidates in the job market,” according to the LeBow website.

Those interested in learning more about Drexel’s new esport business degree through the LeBow College of Business can read about the program here.

The local dining scene on Drexel’s campus in University City, a once-bustling student hub, has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Campus has specifically been affected by the pandemic as students have not returned for in-person classes this fall after the university decided to continue remote learning through the end of the year. As a result, some popular local businesses have been forced to close their doors permanently while others have turned massive profits since March.

One campus favorite, Drexel Pizza, closed in August. It lost its original source of revenue, Drexel students, who have been sparse for the past few months. While the outside of the restaurant tells one story, an unlikely turn of events for Drexel Pizza tells another.

In June, protestors took the streets of Center City to demand racial equality. Due to riots that accompanied the protests, the National Guard was mobilized and used the Armory on Drexel’s campus as headquarters. During that time, Drexel Pizza catered their meals, which resulted in a larger-than-expected revenue, mentioned a student employee. The months-long lull in business was quickly made up in weeks because of the National Guard’s business. Now, Drexel Pizza remains closed for renovations — an unlikely winner of the pandemic.

Another popular pizza chain on campus, Ed’s Buffalo Wings and Pizza, located on Powelton Avenue, has remained open throughout the pandemic. While Drexel students are their main customers, they are also popular among the residents of Powelton Village.

A slightly more upscale pizza and pasta restaurant, Zavino, has also closed its doors during the pandemic. Its largest customer base was Drexel students and visiting families. The pandemic has upended indoor dining and the prospect of outdoor seating was not enough to keep Zavino in business. Another student favorite is Blaze Pizza, part of a build-your-own pizza chain, located beneath The Summit. It has also been shut since March after students left.

Several coffee shops at Drexel have also been shut down due to running on a limited schedule. The Starbucks at the Summit has closed its doors temporarily, as well as the Saxby’s located in the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building. The Starbucks in the LeBow School of Business building has also been closed since the pandemic began and students left campus.

Many popular dining destinations on or near campus have remained open. These include Chipotle, Insomnia Cookies, Wawa and Kung Fu Tea.

In terms of the Drexel Dining scene on campus, all locations are closed or open on a limited basis. Handschumacher Dining Center, which usually serves buffet-style meals, is closed. Urban Eatery, a station-based dining hall in The Summit, closed on March 17 and will remain closed through the end of the year. Northside Dining Terrace is open on a limited basis Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. The Chick-fil-A and Subway restaurant chains located in Northside Dining Terrace are also closed temporarily.

Drexel students living on campus in Philadelphia have reported an invasion of the spotted lanternfly near The Summit since the end of August.

The spotted lanternflies, an invasive species first spotted in Berks County in 2014, were specifically found in front of the Chipotle at 34th Street and Lancaster Avenue. They have also been around the entrance, inside the building and crawling the walls of The Summit, a residential building for Drexel students owned by American Campus Communities.

“They were everywhere, it was pretty disgusting,” Ciara Richards, a political science sophomore who has lived in The Summit since September. “I never saw anyone going to Chipotle or other stores in the area where lanternflies [were] collected during that time. I would just totally try to avoid that area.”

Richards said she saw a similar situation around the entrance of The Link, another private residence on Drexel’s campus. Whenever Richards saw them, she and her friends usually screamed or stomped on them.

“You could even find them inside the elevator, past security,” Clayton Fosterweber, a third-year environmental sciences student who has lived in The Summit since 2019, said. “We even had our window opened once and one flew in — on the 19th floor!”

Fosterweber was surprised because, according to many reports, spotted lanternflies cannot fly long distances.

“They are usually looking for tall [surfaces] to climb up, and since The Summit is the tallest building on campus, it makes sense they accumulated there,” Fosterweber said. “I have also seen a bunch in Cira Green and by the Schuylkill River, [and] there are a lot of tall buildings [there] as well.”

A Community Assistant from The Summit, who preferred to remain anonymous for this interview, mentioned that the building’s procedure to attack the spotted lanternflies was to powerwash the area daily in the morning and afternoon. Additionally, The Summit hired an exterminator twice to tackle the issue.

“Honestly, they would come back, almost like right away,” the Community Assistant said. “It was a really tiresome task trying to continue to get rid of them. But right now, I think more than anything, the cold weather was what took them [out] and they are no longer an issue.”

The Triangle reached out to the Chipotle location, but Chipotle Corporate has not responded as of Wednesday evening.

However, the spotted lanternfly is a species that is not only attacking University City, but also invading the whole city of Philadelphia and the rest of the state.

Scientists believe this species first arrived in the United States four or five years ago in Berks County, Pa. They are believed to have come from China through a stone importation, said Jon K. Gelhaus, Drexel professor of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Curator of Entomology at the Academy of Natural Sciences. By the time the insect was noticed and deemed uncommon in North America, the population was already large and spreading.

This insect has a long mouth that feeds from the surface of plants. However, when it excretes the excess, it grows a mold that can infect the plants, Gelhaus said.

“Its favorite [plants] are grapes, and that is affecting some of the horticulture of grapes, especially in Pennsylvania, [which is] a big state that cultivates them for juice,” Gelhaus said.

Specialists are trying to eradicate them, but they have not been able to stop the spread.

“They have also come here without any natural enemies,” Gelhaus said. “The population is expanding greatly and it’s not controlling the cycle of life, so we’re seeing how the population is growing hugely – it’s growing exponentially.”

None of the lanternflies survive the winter, which is why numbers have lowered in the past few days – but their eggs are a different story. In the spring, the eggs hatch, releasing small insects. They look quite different in coloration; lanternflies start as black with white spots, then develop red and black colors and, finally, become winged adults. However, all of these stages feed on plants the same way.

“Mid-summer, [from] July to August, are the last moments when it goes from the young stage to the adult, and that’s when we see most lanternflies, until the fall when [the weather becomes] very cold,” Gelhaus explained.

Right now, the spotted lanternflies are mating, laying eggs and dispersing them. The problem with them moving around is that they lay eggs easily and on a daily basis, which improves the chances of them spreading.

Lanternflies can lay their eggs in trees and plants, but they can also leave them on anything that is outside — including cars, trucks and any other methods of transportation. Scientists like Gelhaus warn that this will lead to the spread of spotted lanternflies to other parts of the country.

It is recommended to check vehicles or anything that is left outside during these months to make sure no eggs are found on them. Gelhaus described the eggs as “a cluster that becomes yellow-ish and over time it becomes darker, [which] could get confused with tree bark.”

To be removed, the eggs need to be scratched out of the surface with something strong and flat, like a credit card or a knife. Then, it is advised to pour some rubbing alcohol or very hot water, Gelhaus said.

This is especially important for Drexel students who are moving from campus to their homes and vice versa, Gelhaus added.

Yet, there is still much unknown about spotted lanternflies.

“There are some newer findings of them being attracted to tall buildings, but we don’t understand why they are attracted to [these] structures and such,” Gelhaus said. “Once we find out what makes them aggregate, that will be easier to also exterminate them because we could find them all together.”

Some people have been using a very sticky material to wrap around the tree trunk that sticks and kills spotted lanternflies, but this method has also caught other animals, including birds, Gelhaus said. The solution of putting a chicken net around the trees to keep birds from getting stuck is currently being tested.

Scientists are also looking into bringing the natural enemy of the spotted lanternfly into the environment, but this will cause another set of issues.

“They have to test that [the enemy] will survive in this ecosystem, and they have to [ensure] it does not endanger other species of this area, and this process will take years,” Gelhaus said.

Today, spotted lanternflies are invading Philadelphia and are very prominent in other parts of western Pennsylvania. The infestation has also spread to other states, like New Jersey and Virginia, and it was even recently found in Connecticut. Scientists only expect the population to grow in the upcoming years, so residents hold a big responsibility in helping to stop the spread.

Instead of the scheduled presidential debate on Oct. 15, America watched two separate town halls from the candidates, one in Miami and one in Philadelphia. Drexel University had the opportunity to be represented in one of them.

Rajeev Nunna, a fourth-year finance student in the LeBow College of Business, was one of the 20 selected attendants at candidate Joe Biden’s town hall held in the Constitution Center. The event was called “The Vice President and the People,” hosted by ABC and moderated by journalist George Stephanopoulos.

After the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that the debate on Oct. 15 would be held virtually due to COVID-19 concerns, President Donald Trump rejected the offer, and each party and broadcast companies were looking for ways to substitute this event. As a result, the two town halls were held separately during the same night in different swing-states. In Florida, NBC hosted Trump’s town hall, and in Pennsylvania, ABC hosted Biden’s.

Producers from ABC reached out to people throughout Pennsylvania, including college students, and that eventually reached Nunna. He received the information from a friend, who also goes to Drexel, and gave a call to the producers. After two interviews, he was selected out of 200 people to appear in the town hall.

Due to time constraints, only half of the town hall attendants were given the opportunity to ask their questions live during the 90-minute broadcast, and Nunna was not one of them. Nonetheless, he still had the chance to ask his question to Biden after the live programming had ended but while cameras were still rolling.

“I wrote two questions and they picked which question I was going to ask,” Nunna, an undecided voter, said. “I cited a report that the House Judiciary had put out around two weeks ago where it basically recommends breaking up big tech companies like Amazon and Google. So I asked him if he agrees with the report and he supports breaking up big tech.”

According to Nunna — who is originally from Houston but is registered to vote at the DAC on Drexel’s campus this Election Day — Biden did not answer the first part of the question directly. The candidate said he has not had a chance to give it a deep look yet, but he said he supports changes to antitrust laws and small businesses face challenges when they first get started.

“I think they did a good town hall, I have nothing but good things to say about the ABC producers,” Nunna said. “They hit all the relevant topics everyone wants to hear: coronavirus, race-relations, the Supreme Court, Foreign Policy, American unity. There was even a question about what he would do if he lost.”

In Nunna’s opinion, the only question missing was about the case of Hunter Biden.

Regarding safety measures, Nunna said that he was very satisfied.

“They required everyone to get tested [for COVID-19] before the event, no one was able to get inside the Constitution Center without having taken a rapid COVID-19 test and being negative. […] You had to wear a mask the entire time, they still required social distance even though everyone has tested negative,” Nunna said.

Furthermore, only 11 out of the 20 people were allowed in the auditorium at the time and they rotated the people in between breaks, Nunna added.

“It was great that they incorporated students and young people,” Nunna said. “It’s going to be one of the biggest groups that are going to be voting this election. It’s my first presidential election, and it’s actually my first election that I’m going to be voting in general.”

Additionally, members of the Democratic party have done a lot of campaigns for the Biden-Harris ticket in Philadelphia since the town hall.

Senator Cory Booker campaigned around businesses in the Fairmount area. Andrew Yang campaigned in Chinatown for the Asian vote and even held a socially-distanced talk for college students on Clark Park in West Philadelphia.

Finally, former president Barack Obama did a drive-in rally for Biden at Citizens Bank Park this Wednesday, Oct. 21, being the first in-person campaign event he has done for this election cycle.

Drexel students who are learning remotely (or on co-op but live near campus) can now schedule a free COVID-19 test, even if they have no symptoms of illness, according to an email sent by the University’s Enrollment Management and Student Success on Tuesday, Oct. 13.

“Testing will be offered in Myers Hall, 3301 Race Street on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. (except on University holidays), by appointment only,” the message said. Appointment registration for those who do not present any symptoms should be done through the COVID-19 Registration website.

To see the results of the tests, you must download the Drexel Health Tracker App, according to the email statement. In addition to viewing the results of COVID-19 tests, this app is supposed to be used by the Drexel community on a daily basis. Students should “check in” regularly to record any symptoms they have or note that they are feeling well, certifying the user as safe to enter campus property. However, now that all undergraduate classes are remote, only a few members of the community use it.

Before this service was offered, the only option students had for testing was to contact the Student Health Center or call 215-220-2700 if they felt sick. Now, they finally have the option to be tested as a preventive measure, which is especially useful for many students who live with roommates.

“We note that those students who live off campus and have three or more roommates may be particularly at increased risk of infection and should thus consider testing,” the statement said.

This measure, taken on Week 4 of the term, comes after similar steps from other universities like Drexel’s neighbor, the University of Pennsylvania. Penn converted its Houston Hall’s Hall of Flags into a free COVID-19 testing site for their students (even though classes are remote) and advised their students not to move to Philadelphia this fall, according to a PennToday article. Beginning in their orientation week in mid-August, Penn has offered testing for their students Monday through Saturday, which is more often than Drexel’s service.

The email statement concluded with an explanation of the work being done to make the Health Tracker App an essential part of the University’s testing strategy. The email also announced that more information will soon be available on the Drexel’s Response to Coronavirus website.

A recent increase in coronavirus cases around the Philadelphia region has the area concerned over the possibility of a steady rise in upcoming weeks.

The beginning of October brought with it an average daily case count higher than mid-September’s, when the City of Philadelphia had reached its lowest rate since the beginning of the pandemic in March.

“This wave [of new cases] has the potential to become a surge,” Judith Persichilli, New Jersey Health Commissioner, said.

Over the past two weeks, Philadelphia County has seen nearly 2,500 new cases with 29 deaths. New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware have seen about 2,250 new cases and 24 deaths over the last 14 days. In New Jersey, Burlington, Atlantic, Camden, Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland and Cape May counties have seen 2,000 new cases and 104 new deaths, according to figures in the Philadelphia Inquirer’s “Coronavirus: Tracking The Spread.”

As the Philadelphia area experiences a rise in cases, so does the rest of the country. The average number of coronavirus cases in the United States increased by roughly five percent for the beginning of October.

To date, over 7.5 million Americans have contracted the coronavirus, leading to over 212,000 deaths since March. According to Johns Hopkins University, the upper Midwest area is being hit the hardest by new infections, surpassing Florida’s record reached in mid-July.

In terms of the coronavirus death toll numbers, New Jersey currently ranks fourth with over 16,000, following California and Texas. With over 8,000 deaths, Pennsylvania ranks eighth, but the uncertainty regarding the uptick in cases throughout the Philadelphia region has many feeling unsettled.

“The reason for this increase in [Coronavirus] case activity is not entirely clear,” Dr. Thomas Farley, Philadelphia Health Commissioner, said. “We do know that we are seeing clusters and spread on college campuses in the city.”

While local colleges and universities — including Drexel University, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, Saint Joseph’s University and Thomas Jefferson University — are currently conducting remote learning, coronavirus numbers in areas surrounding their campuses are rising. Although college-age adults in these areas are experiencing notable increases, they are not the only age group of concern, nor are these the only areas, according to Farley.

“We’re also seeing increases in other age groups — not the college age group — and in other areas in the city,” Farley said. “Particularly in the far Northeast [section of Philadelphia]. It’s less clear why we’re seeing this transmission there.”

The colder weather approaching the area has Farley worried for a continuous spread, he said.

Although Drexel is currently utilizing a remote teaching and learning model, the University recently announced it will offer free testing to students, even for those without symptoms, as an increased effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. But Farley noted that, in addition to testing, taking steps to stay safe and smart are the most important and effective preventative measures.

“The overall message now, in view of the increasing cases we’re seeing in Philadelphia and what’s happening around us, is that risk is increasing right now,” Farley said. “People should be especially concerned and especially focused on wearing masks to protect [themselves] and protect the people around [them].”

A significant number of Drexel upperclassmen are staying in University City despite classes and most co-ops being remote, The Triangle found through a survey.

According to a survey evaluating Drexel students’ experiences with housing since the COVID-19 pandemic began, 64 percent of non-freshman respondents are currently living in Philadelphia. In addition, 57 percent of those students were staying in the city because they were “tied to a lease signed before knowing classes/ co-op were going to be remote” or they “wanted to live with friends.” The survey had 56 participants and was spread to the community on big social media groups of students, like the Facebook groups of the Classes of 2020-2025 and the Drexel Discord group.

Nick Liotta, a Construction Management pre-junior, is taking his classes at home despite having signed a lease with University Crossings.

“I tried to get out of my lease at UCross that I only signed because classes were still in-person as of Aug. 3, despite them telling us we would have a decision regarding the term then (which they never said anything, leading me to believe class was in-person),” wrote Liotta in the survey. “About two or three weeks later when President Fry moved classes online, I was told there’s no way to get out of my lease, despite not having moved in and having put nothing down for the apartment.”

A similar situation happened to International Business and Legal Studies junior Nick Constantino, who decided to move to Philadelphia when he could not get out of his lease with American Campus Communities.

One advantage that Constantino has is that he does not have to worry about catching COVID-19 from his roommates, because none of them decided to move in this term. However, this is not the case for Public Health sophomore Grace Castle, who also decided to live on-campus.

“It definitely stresses me out having to rely on the actions of so many different people. Everyone has a ‘small circle,’ but there are plenty of intersections between circles,” Castle said.

Unlike Castle, most sophomores surveyed decided to use the rent abatement option announced on Aug. 20, 2020 via email for all the ACC residents on campus. The abatement releases second-year students of their rent for the months that Drexel is working remotely until Dec. 13, 2020.

“This rent rebate offer has not been extended to upperclassmen (junior, seniors, graduate students) who are not required to live on campus, and who have made an open-market decision to be part of our community,” read an email sent by The Summit, one of the ACC buildings.

Nonetheless, for some sophomores, this is not enough. A second-year nursing student who has a compromised immune system from chronic illnesses said The Summit did not let her out of the pandemic despite her situation.

“Living with any roommate wasn’t going to be a good situation for me, and I was originally supposed to be in Summit sharing with three girls I didn’t know. This wasn’t going to fly — I don’t trust other college kids to do what they’re supposed to and wear a mask. But, Summit wouldn’t let me out of my lease, and like everyone else, I couldn’t get anyone to take mine over,” said the student, who wished to remain anonymous because she did not want to compromise her lease with ACC.

This student did not think that moving back to Summit in January would be safe, so she had to go out of her way to get a co-op in Harrisburg, outside of the 10-mile ratio where ACC housing allows you to be released from your contract for the duration of your work. “This is a temporary solution, but I do not know what I will do if, by the spring, I have to go back to The Summit and the pandemic is not over,” the student said.

International students faced huge issues with housing during the pandemic. Some struggled to get back to their home countries after dorms were closed;, others are being forced to return to the U.S. (despite their home countries handling the pandemic more safely), just because they are tied to a lease here. In addition, travel bans have kept students from traveling to and from the U.S., and those who made it home, now struggle to attend classes at different time zones.

An Economics and Finance junior from Nigeria had to pay his rent for University Crossing for two school terms last school year, after he was barred from entering the U.S. The student, who also chose to remain anonymous, was doing his co-op in Crete, Greece, for the fall and winter terms of the 2019-20 school year (his pre-junior year). He had signed this lease during his sophomore year, not knowing he would have an international co-op.Though his lease relieved him of rent for those six months of co-op, his responsibility returned after his co-op ended.

“I was [in Greece] until March, and just in that month, COVID broke out. I was meant to return to the U.S. 10 days before COVID was declared a worldwide pandemic. I remember the night of March 13 pretty well; it was when President Trump announced the travel ban on Europe and me, not being a citizen or a Green Card Holder, had to go back to my country because I was not going to be allowed back into the U.S. traveling from a European country,” the student said.

Just a few days after he arrived in Nigeria, the government shut down its borders, so he would not be able to return to Philadelphia after a period of quarantine as planned. He was responsible for paying his UCross rent from April to the beginning of September, but he could not use his apartment even if he wanted to. He tried to call the building administration to cancel his lease, but they told him it was not possible and his only option was to find someone to take over it. This was incredibly difficult to do when he was not even in the country and has never been in the apartment, he said.

“I don’t think I am the only one in this situation, I think there are more people going through this as well. I was very disappointed with the organization and landlords. I hoped they could be more sympathetic and understanding of the situation, especially when the whole world is going through tough times financially, but I guess they just don’t even care about the well-being of the Drexel Community,” the Economics and Finance student said.

In September, after his University Crossing lease was over, the student was finally able to return to the U.S. He is now doing his third co-op in Philadelphia while living in an off-campus apartment.

Another group of the student body who is struggling is the Resident Assistants, who are usually provided with free housing during the school year. However, they were revoked of this privilege when the dorms closed.

Alexandra George is a third-year Communication student who is living in Philadelphia because of her in-person co-op. Like several other students, she lost her RA position amid the pandemic.

“This was an extreme financial burden on me. I would have chosen a co-op closer to home had I known I would need to pay rent in Philly. Additionally, RA covers meals for me as well, so that’s another additional cost I was not expecting,” George said.

Furthermore, George reached out to the COVID emergency fund to help her with her situation, but her request was denied.

On the other hand, there are also a handful of students who decided to return to Philadelphia voluntarily and feel safer on campus.

Clara Meskin, a third-year Communication student, lives with her 97-year-old grandma at home and had to be extremely cautious. Therefore, she decided to return to campus and be with her friends without compromising a loved one.

For Electrical Engineering pre-junior Juliana Wallgren, going back to campus meant finally having an optimal workplace after so many months of quarantine.

“I moved home in March, but I’m the oldest of six kids and the environment was just not conducive to being productive… I had classes March through September and even though I knew my co-op would be fully remote, I was looking forward to getting some space to myself,” Wallgren said in the survey. “I signed with ACC, and since I’m not a sophomore I don’t get rent abatement, but honestly that lease was an excuse for me to convince my parents I had to move back.”

For pre-junior Nicole Cusimano, the decision was easy because, despite being from out-of-state, Philadelphia is now what she considers her place of residence. She had the option to live at home for the term but decided it would be better to remain in the city for her mental health. Cusimano already stayed in the city through the spring and summer terms because she could not end her lease early, so she decided to stay simply because she was paying for it and did not want to move out.

“One big downside was that I was unable to tour any new apartments, so I didn’t see my new place until about a week before I moved in,” Cusimano said. “Being able to tour apartments in the spring would have made it much easier to consider all living options rather than feeling like I needed to settle.” Cusimano is happy with where she currently lives, but she said the potential for it to go south was really high.

Although the school year began, the doubts about housing are not over. A lot of sophomores wonder if the rent abatement will be extended because they still do not feel safe moving to campus. Other students currently staying home question if they should find a lease for winter in case classes return to be in-person. As long as the pandemic continues, none of these doubts will be fully solved, and as long as students do not know when physical activities will resume, it will be difficult to make a guess.

Officials from American Campus Communities were contacted via email to comment on these issues but, to the date this article was written, they could not arrange an interview.

On Oct. 5, Drexel Police received a report of a sexual assault that occurred on Oct. 3 around 5:00 a.m. at 3200 Chestnut Street, the American Campus Communities-owned Chestnut Square housing building.

The Department of Public Safety sent out an university-wide email about the incident on Thursday, Oct. 6 around 4:30 p.m., offering limited details about the incident. The message stated that the victim, a Drexel student whose gender was unspecified, was assaulted by someone they had recently met on the popular dating app Tinder. The alleged assaulter’s only known identification is “Leon,” a 5-foot-6 white or Hispanic male in his early twenties.

Drexel University Police and the Philadelphia Police Department are actively investigating the case. The remainder of the email included tips on online dating communication, Drexel’s Title IX policies regarding gender-based misconduct and links to general crime prevention tips.

The reported assault took place at Chestnut Square, which is owned by American Campus Communities and affiliated with Drexel University, along with two other ACC properties, The Summit and University Crossings. Chestnut Square and American Campus Communities have not yet released an official statement on the matter, but they have ensured that their residents’ safety is of top priority. All guests must be signed in at the front desk and the accompanying resident must escort them at all times in all three properties.

Earlier this year, on Feb. 28, a reported sexual assault incident took place at The Summit, one of ACC’s properties at Drexel. The email issued to the Drexel community following the incident also mentioned that both the Drexel University Police and the Philadelphia Police Department had been investigating the matter.

Since Tinder was released in 2010, it has significantly impacted the world of online dating, both positively and negatively. Bad actors, sexual assault, harassment and known sex offenders on the platform are some of the most pressing issues related to online dating.

To deal with the dark side of online dating, Tinder’s parent company, MatchGroup, hired a Head of Safety and Social Advocacy in September. According to online magazine InsideHook, this appointment is MatchGroup’s first time hiring someone to combat inappropriate and dangerous behavior on their dating platforms.

“We must all be committed to doing everything we can to eliminate bad behavior, wherever we can,” MatchGroup CEO Shar Dubey said.

This is the fourth sexual assault report that Drexel University was notified of since April 2019.

As of Oct. 5, Drexel University has reported 13 new COVID-19 cases among students and faculty, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

On the dashboard, Drexel has been recording positive cases among students and faculty at the University City, Queen Lane and Center City campuses since June 15. The site has reported 82 cases in total, not including the recent update on Oct. 5.

The data on the dashboard includes cases among students and faculty who live within Pennsylvania. Three categories have been created for students within the population who tested positive: on-campus cases, off-campus cases and non-campus cases.

On-campus cases refer to the select few students who have lived in or visited a Drexel facility while they were infected. This includes faculty and graduate students in certain colleges, like the College of Medicine or the Kline School of Law, who continue classes on a hybrid model.

Off-campus cases refer to students who have not lived in or visited a campus facility during the time they were infected but reside in Philadelphia.

Non-campus cases refer to students who have not lived in or visited a campus facility during the time they were infected and do not live in the City of Philadelphia, but do live within the state of Pennsylvania.

Based on information provided by Drexel administrators, cases are being collected through the Drexel Health Tracker app, the Student Health Center and quarterly baseline testing.

Baseline testing was conducted in mid-September for students and employees whose records showed that they would be entering an administrative building at some point during fall term. Testing will be done quarterly, and after a completed test, routine testing is not required for any of the students included. In the baseline tests, 1,655 employees and 1,506 students were tested, yielding a positivity rate of 2.6 percent, according to DrexelNOW.

The Drexel Health Tracker is being used to track symptoms and test results of any student or faculty member who chooses to use it. The Drexel Health Tracker records symptoms, positive and negative test results and “check-ins” when a student confirms that they will be coming to a Drexel University campus location. If a positive test result is recorded, a member of the Student Health Center will reach out with further instructions.

The Student Health Center at the University City campus is also offering testing for both asymptomatic and symptomatic students. When the Student Health Center number is called, a COVID-19 dial-in option is presented and an appointment can be made over the phone. Results are expected with three to four days.

All three resources are available to students and faculty regardless of their on-campus, off-campus, non-campus and non-Pennsylvania resident status. However, only baseline testing is mandatory. Students have the option of utilizing the Drexel Health Tracker app and the option of going to the various other testing facilities throughout the city through the Student Health Center.

In addition to the optional positive case reporting, only students and faculty who reside within Pennsylvania are recorded on the dashboard, which exists to keep the public informed. The number of enrolled Drexel students who have tested positive but have not been mandated to report it remains unknown.

Face masks, social distancing and testing plans were key topics at the COVID-19 pandemic town hall, hosted virtually on Oct. 7 at 1:30 p.m. Director of the Return to Campus Oversight Committee Marla Gold took parents, students and faculty members through Drexel’s ongoing plans and precautions that they hope will ensure campus safety.

Throughout the presentation, Gold stressed the importance of face masks around campus and within campus buildings. Although Drexel students are not required to be on campus this term, there are still students and faculty members on campus that must follow these guidelines.

“We don’t want to contribute to the morbidity — that’s disease — [or,] God forbid, mortality — that’s death — among our campus population and, importantly, in our city and surrounding areas,” Gold said about the necessity of these new safety guidelines.

Starting on Oct. 14, Drexel will implement on-campus testing in Myers Hall for all its students. This testing will be free, but it is required that students register online in advance using a link that students will receive this week. After Oct. 14, testing will take place every Monday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eventually, the Drexel Health Tracker app will allow students to register for testing and receive test results.

Students living with three or more roommates are encouraged to get tested for COVID-19, even if they are asymptomatic or think that they have been exposed to the virus.

“In institutions all around Philadelphia and nationally, we are seeing upticks in COVID infection among students who have three or more roommates,” Gold said.

As the University expects to face as they make plans to combat this virus, it expects to face challenges in regulating face mask usage, gatherings and compliance issues. Facial coverings are and will continue to be required, and penalties (such as bans and suspensions) will be put in place if students refuse to cooperate.

In addition, Gold mentioned that most of the cases from surrounding universities and within Drexel’s community are the result of small gatherings. These consist of people that do not share the same living space in groups of four to seven and spread the virus to those they come in contact with.

Gold went on to say that, as winter term approaches, there is a greater risk that the virus will spread more easily due to students spending more time indoors and being in closer contact with others.

“As the weather gets colder, these events like small gatherings that are indoors are going to get even riskier,” Gold said.

Separate isolation and quarantine facilities are available on campus for Drexel students. Once a student becomes infected or comes in contact with an infected person, they will work with student health through the Drexel Health Tracker to plan where and how they will quarantine.

In some cases, students might be allowed to stay in their current living space if it allows them to isolate and recover effectively. However, Drexel’s health services will be able to provide a separate space for these students if needed.

During her presentation, Gold stated that, after a student tests positive for the virus or comes into contact with someone infected, a negative test will not guarantee that the student can leave isolation or quarantine once they have started that process. Students must follow the safety guidelines implemented by Drexel before they are able to leave their isolation space. Additionally, she stated that students must comply with the University’s and the Philadelphia Health Department’s contact tracing to ensure people from Drexel and other universities are made aware that they may have been exposed to the virus.

“We have all been younger and we do understand. However, this is a pandemic with a dangerous virus particularly for older and vulnerable individuals, so we have to be extremely careful and know where people have been when they’ve been infected,” Gold said.

The meeting concluded with information about support and resources for students during this pandemic. In addition to the isolation and quarantine facilities, Drexel is also offering mental health resources, such as counseling, to support students that are struggling.

Gold ended her presentation by acknowledging the harsh reality of college life and the world today.

“These are some of the toughest times because of the pandemic, social unrest, all of the things that we’re hearing on social media, seeing on TV. It’s tough. It’s tough for everyone, particularly young people. We are here for you,” Gold said.

To keep up with Drexel’s testing updates and general information about the plans for winter term, visit drexel.edu/coronavirus.