Story Pitch: Competing institutions in Athens

A sign outside Creswell Hall, a high-rise freshman student housing facility at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, reminds students to practice social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19 on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. Although confirmed positive COVID-19 cases at UGA peaked from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4 at 143 new cases but declined to 16 new cases over Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, per UGA data, in-person classes have remained limited and the university has seen far below normal on-campus activity. (Photo/William Newlin)

Downtown Athens has become off limits for Laura Thompson and her husband Shannon. Like other Athens Clarke-County citizens, they no longer see the nightly lines of student bar hoppers as an innocent byproduct of the University of Georgia. Now, as part of the age group contributing the most positive COVID-19 cases in town, they’re a public health risk. It’s not that the young people have changed, but that the world has. And while the indestructible youth hasn’t seemed to notice, when the Thompsons manage their kids’ remote education and stay home to stay healthy, the reminders are everywhere.

Currently under its eighth declaration of emergency due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Clarke County recorded the highest number of new cases in a single Georgia county from Sept. 5–11, according to state records. This trend was not surprising. The Athens Mayor and Commissions, as well as their constituents, were well aware of what a reopened UGA campus would mean for case numbers. Yet local business interests and the threat of state intervention rendered Athens’ public health policy toothless. To stave off lawsuits and a court-ordered injunction on ordinance enforcement, the Mayor and Commission first compromised on the last-call time for bars. Then, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp prevented municipalities from enforcing mask use in private businesses. Then the students returned.

I’ve watched these trends throughout the past six months in Athens and have felt a growing sense of helplessness. Case counts remain high, local schools remain closed, and the bar queues remain long. I know people have a lot to say on this topic, and the contrasting interests in town are easily visualized, which makes me think this is ripe ground for a multimedia chronicling of Athens’ experience with the pandemic. The goal is to explore the reasons behind Athens’ weak COVID-19 prevention for residents to better understand how outside limitations undercut the authority and autonomy of their elected officials.