Albion College located in Albion Michigan will require all students to download to their smartphones a tracking device for their location and personal health data for this upcoming school year.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the school wants to create what they are calling a “COVID-bubble” on their campus.  It does not end there, they are also will require students to stay within the school’s 4.5-mile perimeter for the entire semester.  If the students were to leave the 4.5-mile perimeter their tracking device will alert the administration and the student may be temporarily suspended.

Does this sound a bit Orwellian to you?

One father whose daughter is a student at Albion College told the Washington Free Beacon that he now has to decide between keeping his daughter home from Albion or give permission for her “invasion of privacy”.  He then went on to say:

"The school wants my daughter to sign a form consenting to specimen collection and lab testing…I have a ton of concern with that…. Why is the state of Michigan's contact tracing not enough?"

This gets even better as the article stated:

“Though students are required to remain on campus, professors and administrators are not. When asked about this potential loophole in its "COVID-bubble," the school declined to comment.”

Can anyone justify why the students cannot leave their 4.5 perimeters out of fear of contracting COVID but the professors and the administrators can?  Are the professors and administrators somehow immune to the virus?  Interesting how the administrators who are the ones requiring the tracking and lockdown exempt themselves from their tracking and lockdown.

The students will not have the opportunity to decline and take classes online because Albion is planning to offer only in-person instruction.  Albion has stated that “students who refuse to comply with the contact-tracing program will be forced to defer for a semester or a full school year”.

It gets even better according to emails from the university obtained by the Free Beacon:

“students who fail to comply with these guidelines will be locked out of their dorms and other on-campus buildings. Students can be temporarily suspended if they fail to comply with protocol.”

Sound like a good idea to you or an Orwellian invasion of Americans' privacy?

Last Thursday, August 6th President Mathew Johnson, Dean of Students Leroy Wright and Interim Provost Ron Mourad shared updates on plans and policies for their fall semester. If you jump ahead to minutes 17 and 30 seconds they discuss the ability to leave the campus or the surrounding Albion area.  Listen to them and you decide your thoughts about what their protocols are.

I certainly understand and believe that they are looking out for the best interest of their students but are these protocols a step too far?

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