{"id":126869,"date":"2020-12-05T02:25:51","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T23:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/u-experience-college-bubble-slammed-for-covid-19-concerns\/"},"modified":"2020-12-05T02:25:51","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T23:25:51","slug":"u-experience-college-bubble-slammed-for-covid-19-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/u-experience-college-bubble-slammed-for-covid-19-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"#’U Experience’ college bubble slammed for COVID-19 concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#’U Experience’ college bubble slammed for COVID-19 concerns<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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They\u2019re giving it the old college try.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three Princeton grads plan to salvage the\u00a0fun and debauchery\u00a0that co-eds are missing out on this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic \u2014 by packing students from across the US into a hotel. Called the U Experience, the controversial program will be mask-free and un-distanced<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making online learning attractive,\u201d said CEO Lane Russell, a 24-year-old Goldman Sachs alum. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to take your courses in your parents\u2019 basement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Known as the U, the company was co-founded by Russell and pals Adam Bragg, 27, and Chris Cook, 25. The plan is to house 150 students at the Tanglewood Resort, on Lake Texoma near the border between Texas and Oklahoma, starting in January, serving as a campus for remote learners. The goal is to create a social<\/a> bubble so kids can partake in the partying banned at their real university at the sprawling hotel \u2014 which boasts three pools, its own marina, a golf course, volleyball courts and five restaurants \u2014 while still pursuing a degree from their home institution.<\/p>\n

\"Lane,
Lane Russell, Adam Bragg and Chris Cook, founders of the U Experience<\/figcaption>
Courtesy of The U Experience<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The project\u2019s ambitions have been compared<\/a> on social media to the infamous Fyre Fest, the failed music festival masterminded by Billy McFarland in the Bahamas in 2017, and skewered for hosting a giant group gathering while the country is being ravaged by the coronavirus. \u201cHow dare you endanger people for your own SELFISH agenda!\u201d wrote one commenter<\/a> on the U\u2019s Instagram.<\/p>\n

Russell rejects any comparison to ill-fated Fyre. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t setting up a bunch of tents on an island,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re putting 150 people into a fully operational hotel, and we\u2019ve spent the past four months perfecting the logistics of this on the back end.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"The
The U Experience<\/figcaption>
Courtesy of The U Experience<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Still, experts like Alvin Tran, a social epidemiologist based at the University of New Haven, are worried the campus could become a COVID-19 superspreader. <\/p>\n

\u201cGiven that there are no plans to encourage mask wearing, I\u2019d be very concerned,\u201d said the public health expert, citing the company\u2019s Facebook video<\/a> that advertises \u201cno masks.\u201d Plus, the size of the bubble \u2014 150 kids plus staffers \u2014 is concerning. The more people in the bubble, Tran says, the more likely an infection will break out. \u201cThere\u2019s always the risk that one person might go rogue \u2026 It\u2019s just a large gamble I wouldn\u2019t be willing to take.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The U Experience<\/figcaption>
Courtesy of The U Experience<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The CDC <\/a>similarly classifies a gathering where \u201cattendees travel<\/a> from outside the local area\u201d \u2014 as would be the case at the U \u2014 as at the \u201chighest risk\u201d for spreading the disease. <\/p>\n

But by relying on \u201crigorous testing\u201d and their \u201cclose-knit community to keep each other accountable,\u201d Russell insists their health precautions<\/a> are up to snuff. They\u2019ve partnered with<\/a> Veritas Testing, an LA-based, mobile rapid-testing company, and are betting on a \u201ccontainment first\u201d policy. That means students are tested twice before they step foot on campus, to hedge against false negatives. Then there will be regular temperature checks, and services like on-site grocery delivery.<\/p>\n

\"The
The U Experience<\/figcaption>
Courtesy of The U Experience<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been drawing from the successes of the NBA bubble,\u201d said Russell, referencing the closed-to-outsiders campus that pro-basketball players lived and competed on during this year\u2019s playoffs. \u201cWe know the eyes of the world will be on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tran maintains \u201cthe NBA has a ton of resources\u201d \u2014 it reportedly cost about $190 million<\/a> to pull off its bubble \u2014 and also notes that testing isn\u2019t a fail safe. \u201cI\u2019d rather they wait for the vaccine to come out before they do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The U Experience<\/figcaption>
Courtesy of The U Experience<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Concerns over the pandemic haven\u2019t deterred prospective students. Russell says they\u2019ve received about 1,500 app<\/a>lications.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be ecstatic if I got in,\u201d Seferino Doenhaufer, who applied a few days ago, told The Post. The 19-year-old business major misses music festivals and \u201cjust hanging out with my friends.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Seferino
Seferino Doenhaufer<\/figcaption>
Courtesy of Seferino Doenhaufer<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Mount St. Mary\u2019s University freshman wasn\u2019t impressed with the social scene his first semester, where he was taking classes remotely while living in the dorms. \u201cIt got repetitive,\u201d said Doenhaufer, who wasn\u2019t able to gather with friends in groups on campus. \u201cYou woke up, signed into class, and then a lot of people would go back to sleep after.\u201d <\/p>\n

Doenhaufer said a semester at Tanglewood seems safer than renting out houses in small, unregulated groups near his school, a trend he\u2019s seen among friends who want to avoid living at home with their parents. \u201cIt\u2019s more likely to lead to infection than the bubble method,\u201d\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n

Packages at the U start at $9,900 and go up to $12,700, which includes a room upgrade and a \u201cmore extensive meal plan,\u201d according to Russell. Kids would still have to pay whatever their university charges for remote learning.<\/p>\n

The U\u2019s website says they\u2019ll have a guest-speaker series<\/a>, \u201ccareer mentorship\u201d and poolside happy hours, but makes no mention of one major element of life at the U: a potential reality show that Russell says will live on a \u201cmajor streaming platform.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The reality-show component will be an optional extracurricular, said Russell, who insists he\u2019s not accepting students based on who will be the most camera-ready. \u201cWe started taking applications before there was a show in the works,\u201d he said, adding that he\u2019ll announce the 150 accepted students over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Liana
Liana Valle<\/figcaption>
Courtesy of Liana Valle<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Applicant Liana Valle, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Missouri, wasn\u2019t aware of the reality show, but sees the U as the first step to becoming an influencer. \u201cI want to get my music out there and expand my audience,\u201d the aspiring singer and YouTuber told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Indeed, the admissions office \u2014 composed of the three founders, who all live together in San Diego \u2014 is looking for \u201csocial leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a student doesn\u2019t have a large following before the program,\u201d said Russell, \u201cthey certainly will have one after.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n