Return of College Parties Worries SDSU Neighbors

Students are back on campus and the College Area is buzzing again despite the threats of the coronavirus, and non-student neighbors are worried about the repercussions

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After a mostly remote school year, San Diego State University students are back on campus preparing for the start of a new semester.

“I’m feeling pretty excited,” student Christian Gonzalez said.

SDSU’S fall semester starts on Monday and will be returning to mostly in-person instruction. All students, faculty and staff who enter the campus must be vaccinated.

The new school year comes as the delta variant spreads rapidly throughout our community

“I’m not really scared, but COVID is obviously an issue,” Gonzalez said.

But in spite of it being an issue:

“I’ll try to stay in, but it's college,” Gonzalez said. “Whatever happens, happens.”

A common consensus among an area that in recent days has seen multiple house parties.

“They’re bigger, louder, attracting people from outside the SDSU campus," said Michelle White, a College Area resident. 

The situation worries White and her husband Ryan.

“We assume they [the students] are not concerned about any of the rules and regulations,” said Ryan White. “They just want to have fun, but that could be a dangerous thing.”

Parties in the college area have been a problem for decades, but they reached a critical point last fall when the gatherings contributed to a COVID-19 outbreak on campus. SDSU quarantined its residential students and had to temporarily shut down all in-person classes. 

“It's just going to continue to be transmitted until we do some serious things like stopping these parties or ensuring the safety of everybody,” said Michelle White.

Now, as the new school year gets underway and the party scene in the College Area return,s Michelle and Ryan worry they all might be at risk. 

“I want them to be safe,” said Ryan White. “No one wants this COVID virus to spread. I want to be safe, we want to be safe and we just want respect.”

The Whites say they're just asking students to be good neighbors.

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