Earlier Hours For Konover This Upcoming Fall?

By: Alex Ortiz

Students at the University of Hartford have plenty of options where they can go and get food, snacks, beverages, and much more. Most students on this campus live residentially, due to students being from out of state or being on campus for the experience. There has been a change from the past few years of living on campus, where Konover Campus Center now opens every week at 2:00 PM.

Before the pandemic began, Konover Campus Center would be open every day from 11:00 AM until 1:30 AM. Since the pandemic has taken a toll and more precautions need to be in order, it was announced that Konover would open at 2:00 PM and closes at midnight every night. Students around the University are concerned because a lot of students would have to walk all the way past the residential side just to get their day started. It would be more convenient for students living on campus, especially near the Village Apartments if Konover were to open earlier.

Also, the University of Hartford decided that it would be smarter to do weekly COVID testing, to make sure that we are helping to maintain social distancing. They chose to do this in the auditorium of the Konover Campus Center. Usually, weekly COVID testing ranges weekly from Monday-Friday as students can test as early as 8:00 AM and testing usually concludes around 1:30-2:00 PM.

Although there are more locations where testing should be done because there is more room in certain buildings. Konover Campus Center is not the biggest building, as there is an auditorium to the left, Subway on the right, and the Village Market right in front of you as you walk into Konover. They never close the doors to the main entrance of Konover, but it is convenient to keep those doors open due to the ATM that is present in the lobby of the building.

If the University was to continue testing next year, they should use the Lincoln Theater. There are not many live shows taking place anymore and the auditorium in the Lincoln Theater would be a lot bigger to conduct weekly COVID testing. If performances continue and the Theater is used more next year, it would be up to the University if they would decide to continue testing.

Overall, students feel like the school does not do enough for the students, but they are making sure that each and every student can feel safe. Considering if the University is back to normal next semester, students won’t have to worry about Konover opening late, and students will finally be able to get Subway for lunch again. Subway has been opening at 5 PM for dinner only, as it used to open during lunchtime for previous semesters.

It will be up to the University to make these decisions, as students will feel a sense of comfort if the 2021-22 school year is running like normal. Hopefully, no student will have to deal with a pandemic on their campus again as more people continue to go and get vaccinated. With a normal year ahead for our current students and for incoming freshmen, they won’t have to deal with the constant struggle of having to wait until 2:00 PM just for Konover to open.