Good evening forum users. I hope this finds everyone well. I am a midshipman at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. I am writing this as a review of the school year from my perspective up to this point for any 2025 candidates who have been accepted or are on the fence. I will try and keep this as unbiased as possible, and will note if I am giving my opinion rather than what had happened.
I will start at the beginning of first trimester. When the trimester started we were all new to this COVID world on campus, and the administration pushed very hard for us to keep out of each other’s rooms and for mask wearing all the time. After about a month on campus, on September 4, 2020, an email was sent out saying that we were considered a family unit and did not have to wear masks outside, or in the barracks. We were required to wear masks while on zero deck (where our NEX, Barbour shop, laundry room and mail room are located), in Delano (the dining hall) and when in classrooms. All of those places were where we were in contact with people who were not in our bubble and were going to and from campus. Along with a policy of no masks, MIDN were allowed to go on off campus runs from morning colors to evening colors, with no masks being worn then either. The big tradeoff of not having to wear masks was that there was no liberty for any class, and the entire regiment was in a large bubble. A large talking point for the, then, RADM was that the campus had a COVID rate of zero, no cases recorded at all for a large portion of the first stint on campus. During this time sports teams were not permitted to play, and if they did play it was on special terms. Those special terms resulted in three games being played, two for soccer and one for the football team. The soccer team played both Coast Guard and WestPoint, after everyone as tested and the football team also played Coast Guard (and won) after everyone was tested. In terms of academics, the classes were taught in a mixture of in person and zoom classes. All of the teachers were given the option to come and teach on campus or teach over zoom. All of the classes that are required by the Coast Guard, STCW, were taught in person while a majority of those that were not STCW were taught over zoom. After the first trimester ended, there was a three day weekend and then the second trimester started. Normally the break between the first and second trimester is a week when everyone leaves campus. Obviously because of the bubble that we were in, we were unable to take the full week. On November 22, 2020 MIDN were authorized to leave campus after their last scheduled class to go home for Thanksgiving break.
Thanksgiving break was followed by two weeks of zoom class at home followed by three weeks of Christmas break, the longest break that any class has had at Christmas in years. On January 4, 2021 classes resumed fully online at home for two weeks, with the regiment returning on January 16, 2021.
In order to return a MIDN was required to have a negative COVID test within 72 hours of arrival. After arriving at the academy, all MIDN entered into, if I remember correctly, a 3 day quarantine followed by another COVID test. If that second test came back negative, the MIDN was released to move about campus again, this time with full mask regulations in place. When the Superintendent was bringing the regiment back, he said that the only way that he would bring us back was with a working liberty plan for all classes. In February this liberty plan was instated and lasted approximately 4 weeks before it was shut down due to behavior off campus and an uptick in COVID cases on campus. Following this uptick in cases (this is the only part that is my opinion) things only have gone downhill. After liberty was closed down, we entered into bubble that ends on June 19, when the class of 2021 graduates, but could extend to the end of June when the rest of the regiment ends the academic year. The spike of COVID cases that closed down liberty settled down, and then spiked again resulting in over 100 cases on campus at one time. This large spike resulted in the entire academy entering a 10 day lockdown. During this lockdown everything in the academy was halted. This halt resulted in the entire academic year being pushed back a week and is why graduation is on June 19, not June 12 this year. Since that lockdown, we have been locked completely to campus, except for all sports teams that have away games leaving to play those. During this time, mask wearing has been followed per the President’s executive order.
This complete lockdown was ended recently with the reinstating of off campus runs for the regiment. As of right now, about 75% of the regiment is set to get the second dose of the vaccine on May 10, 2021 with the completion of the two week period after being May 24, 2021. There has been talk of regulations being listened slightly after many are vaccinated, but this has not been released yet. In a memo that was released yesterday, the VADM has doubled down on mask wearing and social distancing after an anonyms complaint was submitted to MARAD about the academy not being 100% compliant in following the mask wearing guidelines. In this memo, the VADM had instated an entry into the disciplinary system if any MIDN is caught breaking those rules. The VADM has also ceased any gate or through-the-fence visits that any friends or family might have. Through this lockdown in the second and third trimester, one thing has remained constant, that sports recruits and their family come to and from campus for tours lead by the admissions department because “they are vital to the academy” – VADM Buono.
In talks that the 2022 Regimental staff had with the VADM recently, they relayed that many of the answers to their questions were “because I said so” or “because we want 2021 to graduate on time.” It has been stated that for many decisions recently, the VADM is making them based on how he feels about the situation.
Looking at how academic had been conducted for the rest of the second trimester and the third trimester. There are many classes that are conducted on zoom, with the teacher showing up to campus to administer the test, and then returning to zoom the next class. The required STCW classes that have in person components are taught in person, and with some facilities being broken class is held on zoom and is treated as the lecture portion of the class. With all of the COVID cases on campus, this has made classes very different from first trimester, and the information that has trickled down to the MIDN not in leadership is little to now regarding our position. The MIDN leadership has done an amazing job passing information down to all the classes during this time.
Looking forward to next year, there is talk of 2025 being required to be vaccinated if the vaccine get FDA approval. There is also talks of the possibility of their being liberty during the first trimester, but nothing more has been said on that subject. There was also information passed along that the Regimental Officer has told the teachers something along the lines on “you can’t teach on zoom forever, you are going to have to come back. If you can’t do that it might be time to retire” That is NOT a direct quote, only what was passed down from the MIDN leadership.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask them, and I will try my best to answer. My goal here is to give a real life account of what has happened over this past year to give some perspective to any incoming member of the class of 2025.
I apologize for all the images at the bottom, these are just to substantiate what I have said above, thank you. I wish you all the best in you endeavors. ACTA NON VERBA
I will start at the beginning of first trimester. When the trimester started we were all new to this COVID world on campus, and the administration pushed very hard for us to keep out of each other’s rooms and for mask wearing all the time. After about a month on campus, on September 4, 2020, an email was sent out saying that we were considered a family unit and did not have to wear masks outside, or in the barracks. We were required to wear masks while on zero deck (where our NEX, Barbour shop, laundry room and mail room are located), in Delano (the dining hall) and when in classrooms. All of those places were where we were in contact with people who were not in our bubble and were going to and from campus. Along with a policy of no masks, MIDN were allowed to go on off campus runs from morning colors to evening colors, with no masks being worn then either. The big tradeoff of not having to wear masks was that there was no liberty for any class, and the entire regiment was in a large bubble. A large talking point for the, then, RADM was that the campus had a COVID rate of zero, no cases recorded at all for a large portion of the first stint on campus. During this time sports teams were not permitted to play, and if they did play it was on special terms. Those special terms resulted in three games being played, two for soccer and one for the football team. The soccer team played both Coast Guard and WestPoint, after everyone as tested and the football team also played Coast Guard (and won) after everyone was tested. In terms of academics, the classes were taught in a mixture of in person and zoom classes. All of the teachers were given the option to come and teach on campus or teach over zoom. All of the classes that are required by the Coast Guard, STCW, were taught in person while a majority of those that were not STCW were taught over zoom. After the first trimester ended, there was a three day weekend and then the second trimester started. Normally the break between the first and second trimester is a week when everyone leaves campus. Obviously because of the bubble that we were in, we were unable to take the full week. On November 22, 2020 MIDN were authorized to leave campus after their last scheduled class to go home for Thanksgiving break.
Thanksgiving break was followed by two weeks of zoom class at home followed by three weeks of Christmas break, the longest break that any class has had at Christmas in years. On January 4, 2021 classes resumed fully online at home for two weeks, with the regiment returning on January 16, 2021.
In order to return a MIDN was required to have a negative COVID test within 72 hours of arrival. After arriving at the academy, all MIDN entered into, if I remember correctly, a 3 day quarantine followed by another COVID test. If that second test came back negative, the MIDN was released to move about campus again, this time with full mask regulations in place. When the Superintendent was bringing the regiment back, he said that the only way that he would bring us back was with a working liberty plan for all classes. In February this liberty plan was instated and lasted approximately 4 weeks before it was shut down due to behavior off campus and an uptick in COVID cases on campus. Following this uptick in cases (this is the only part that is my opinion) things only have gone downhill. After liberty was closed down, we entered into bubble that ends on June 19, when the class of 2021 graduates, but could extend to the end of June when the rest of the regiment ends the academic year. The spike of COVID cases that closed down liberty settled down, and then spiked again resulting in over 100 cases on campus at one time. This large spike resulted in the entire academy entering a 10 day lockdown. During this lockdown everything in the academy was halted. This halt resulted in the entire academic year being pushed back a week and is why graduation is on June 19, not June 12 this year. Since that lockdown, we have been locked completely to campus, except for all sports teams that have away games leaving to play those. During this time, mask wearing has been followed per the President’s executive order.
This complete lockdown was ended recently with the reinstating of off campus runs for the regiment. As of right now, about 75% of the regiment is set to get the second dose of the vaccine on May 10, 2021 with the completion of the two week period after being May 24, 2021. There has been talk of regulations being listened slightly after many are vaccinated, but this has not been released yet. In a memo that was released yesterday, the VADM has doubled down on mask wearing and social distancing after an anonyms complaint was submitted to MARAD about the academy not being 100% compliant in following the mask wearing guidelines. In this memo, the VADM had instated an entry into the disciplinary system if any MIDN is caught breaking those rules. The VADM has also ceased any gate or through-the-fence visits that any friends or family might have. Through this lockdown in the second and third trimester, one thing has remained constant, that sports recruits and their family come to and from campus for tours lead by the admissions department because “they are vital to the academy” – VADM Buono.
In talks that the 2022 Regimental staff had with the VADM recently, they relayed that many of the answers to their questions were “because I said so” or “because we want 2021 to graduate on time.” It has been stated that for many decisions recently, the VADM is making them based on how he feels about the situation.
Looking at how academic had been conducted for the rest of the second trimester and the third trimester. There are many classes that are conducted on zoom, with the teacher showing up to campus to administer the test, and then returning to zoom the next class. The required STCW classes that have in person components are taught in person, and with some facilities being broken class is held on zoom and is treated as the lecture portion of the class. With all of the COVID cases on campus, this has made classes very different from first trimester, and the information that has trickled down to the MIDN not in leadership is little to now regarding our position. The MIDN leadership has done an amazing job passing information down to all the classes during this time.
Looking forward to next year, there is talk of 2025 being required to be vaccinated if the vaccine get FDA approval. There is also talks of the possibility of their being liberty during the first trimester, but nothing more has been said on that subject. There was also information passed along that the Regimental Officer has told the teachers something along the lines on “you can’t teach on zoom forever, you are going to have to come back. If you can’t do that it might be time to retire” That is NOT a direct quote, only what was passed down from the MIDN leadership.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask them, and I will try my best to answer. My goal here is to give a real life account of what has happened over this past year to give some perspective to any incoming member of the class of 2025.
I apologize for all the images at the bottom, these are just to substantiate what I have said above, thank you. I wish you all the best in you endeavors. ACTA NON VERBA
