By Inanna Carter
Contributing Writer
With the campus expected to return to normal operations in the fall, the Kutztown University Activities Board (KUAB) plans to resume their cheap day trips, according to Student Government Board President Agostino D’Ancona.
In past semesters, KUAB has organized multiple trips to New York City and Washington, D.C. for between $5 and $10. There, students could spend their entire day walking through the crowds, buying souvenirs from the street shops or exploring the local museums.
However, since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, these school trips have been cancelled. This fact has brought disappointment to both students who have gone and students who have never been on the trips.
“It’s very great that they offered opportunities like this,” said Rachael Causland, a sophomore who has heard of the trips but never had the opportunity to go. “Especially with COVID now, we definitely need to do more things that don’t require us to be locked in a room. I really wish I’d gone on a trip now.”
Not all hope is lost, though, as KUAB intends to start them back up again next spring, says Leah Cassellia, KUAB’s former advisor turned supervisor.
Of course, because of COVID-19, things won’t be the same as they used to be. For example, the school trips used to use Bieber buses, a convenient option since the company was right here in Kutztown, but now that it has closed, the school will have to use charter buses which have around 54 seats.
“My bet is that they’ll probably start at 50% capacity, with one student per pair of seats,” Cassellia said.
This raises another question: will the trips be the same price? One of the reasons these trips were so loved was because of how affordable they were.
“This is tricky,” said Cassellia. “KUAB doesn’t make money on the trips. It helps offset the costs. Perhaps they’ll be a little bit more to help with more trips.”
When the trips do resume, Casselia added that KUAB will enforce safety protocols.
“Masking will be important and expected, as well as hand sanitizer before getting into the bus, carrying it around, and temperature taking,” Cassellia said. Though, students most likely won’t be required to be vaccinated to go, she added.