The global pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus began making a direct impact on Oregon State University in mid-March 2020, when university leaders implemented a social distancing protocol and placed limits on non-essential travel in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. The following week, many OSU professors chose to deliver their final exams remotely or to cancel them altogether. On March 23 - the first day of OSU's Spring Break - Oregon Governor Kate Brown issued a statewide stay-at-home order that resulted in a formal, mandated transition to remote learning for all OSU students as well as remote work for all OSU employees, save a small number deemed essential to the continuation of on-site campus operations. All spring sports were cancelled and the university implemented a hiring freeze in anticipation of sharply reduced revenues.
In summer 2020, the university announced that about 90% of it courses would be offered remotely, and that limited on-site residential options and campus services would be offered to incoming students, with interactions governed by strict masking, testing and social distancing protocols. Throughout much of this time period, as well as the months that followed, OSU's decisions were informed by its innovative TRACE testing program, which collected data from a randomly selected sample of campus and community members to help determine positivity rates in Corvallis initially, and later Bend, Newport and other communities across Oregon.
OSU continued to lean heavily on remote work and learning for the remainder of the 2020-21 academic year. In the meantime, multiple COVID-19 vaccines became available in the early months of 2021, with wider access emerging in the spring of that year. With limited exemptions, OSU required all students and employees to be vaccinated prior to September 15, 2021, in support of a plan to increase on-site teaching and research activities that would be guided by Oregon Health Authority protocols and county risk assessments. Beginning that fall, hybrid classes became common, with some students attending in person and others - including those needing to quarantine after having tested positive - participating via Zoom. On December 28, 2021, the university announced that all non-exempt students and employees would also be required to receive COVID-19 vaccine boosters by February 15, 2022.
Throughout the first half of 2022, on-site activities increased in number and, at the end of the 2021-22 academic year, OSU hosted an in-person commencement for the first time in three years. Though voluntary masking, remote work and hybrid class options remained a component of university culture, by fall 2022 activities on the OSU campus had largely come to resemble those that preceded the global pandemic.
Collection materials were transferred to SCARC from numerous donors between 2020-2023.
Collection is open for research.
COVID-19 at Oregon State University Collection (MSS COVID), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Four group oral history interviews with OSU undergraduate students reflecting on their experience of the COVID-19 pandemic are held in the
Reflections on the broad impact of the pandemic on community college education across the state can be found in the
The collection is organized into six series: 1. University Communications, 2020-2022; 2. SCARC COVID-19 Collecting Initiative, 2020-2022; 3. OSU Libraries and Press COVID-19 Outreach, 2020-2021; 4. The Bright Side Project, 2022; 5.
The COVID-19 at Oregon State University Collection contains the product of several collecting and outreach initiatives led by the Special Collections and Archives Research Center (SCARC), the Oregon State University Libraries and Press, and other campus and community members.
Series 1 consists, in part, of COVID-related university and library broadcast emails, as collected by Anna Dvorak, Public Services Assistant in SCARC. The university emails were typically released by the OSU President's Office or the Office of the Provost, and authored by Presidents Ed Ray, F. King Alexander or Becky Johnson, as well as Provost Ed Feser and Vice-Provost Dan Larson, who served at the university's Coronavirus Response Coordinator. The library emails were generally written by administrators Faye Chadwell, Anne-Marie Deitering or members of the Library Employee Association. The emails have been compiled into chronologically organized PDF files. Series 1 also includes screenshots of the
Series 2 contains submissions received by SCARC to its
Series 3 documents pandemic-era signage and outreach generated by the OSU Libraries and Press. In addition to born digital signage templates created at various points from 2020-2021, the series also holds a PDF virtual tour of the Valley Library building that was developed for patron use during the period of limited reopening in Fall 2020. Likewise included in the series are the products of two outreach activities initiated by the OSU Libraries. The first,
Series 4 consists of submissions to
Series 5 consists of a single print item,
Series 6 documents an external resource, the
Series 1 consists in part of emails broadcast either university- or library-wide, and providing updates and guidance on operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The university communications were usually authored by the President's Office or the Office of the Provost, with numerous messages written by Dan Larson, OSU's Vice-Provost for Student Affairs and designated Coronavirus Response Coordinator. Library operations messaging was typically authored by University Librarian Faye Chadwell or Associate University Librarian (later Dean of Libraries) Anne-Marie Deitering. Messages circulated by the Library Employee Association that highlighted the remote working environments for individual faculty or staff are also included.
The remainder of the series is comprised of compiled screenshots of the
Series 2 consists of materials collected primarily by SCARC Public Services Assistant Anna Dvorak that document individual and collective reflections on university and community life during the COVID-19 pandemic. The series includes several pandemic journals kept by students and community members, particularly during spring term 2020. Also included are photographs, art works, interview transcripts, and documentation of a community art event held in early January 2021. The entire series is born digital and its contents are available in the SCARC reading room or upon patron request.
Reflections on their 4-H experiences in 2020 and 2021 written by students statewide and submitted as a component of their larger 4-H Record Books. The students ranged in age from 11-18. Reflections were written by: Finnley Barnett, Daniel Carlson, Ruth Carlson, Russell Classen, Morgan Copeland, Jasmine Fairchild, Hayden Freschweiler, Jackie Gehred, Evelyn Grzemkowski, Grace Hooley, Seth Hooley, Olivia Howell, Audrie Klawuhn, Gabriella Lambert, Taylor Nichols, Cassie Roberts, Elsie Rodolph, Carly Shanklin, Sydney Smith and Micah Widner.
Three submissions authored by individuals who wished to remain anonymous. Submission 1 is a pandemic diary written by an OSU undergraduate student from April 1 to June 5, 2020, initially as a component of coursework assigned for PHL 203 and later as an outlet for personal expression. Submission 2 is an essay on Planned Parenthood written in December 2020 following the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court. Submission 3 is a post originally written in Canvas in April 2020 as a component of coursework assigned for PHL 203 and reflecting on the author's state of mind.
A collective journal authored by undergraduate students enrolled in ANTH/FCJS 486. The project used auto-ethnographic and narrative techniques to document "Foodways during the time of COVID-19." Student authors were: Langley Black, Luke Brockman, Emma Callaway, James Chan, Paris DeMers, Makenna Elias, Sandra Hunt, Yujing Jia, Kirstin Lovely, Sierra McCutchen, Ai Nishida, Gisell Santana, Kelsey Talbot and Trey Webb.
A collective journal authored by graduate students enrolled in ANTH/FCJS 486. The project used auto-ethnographic and narrative techniques to document "Foodways during the time of COVID-19." Student authors were: A, Mariana Ribeiro Porto Araujo, Zhuo Chen, Emily Herrera, Adam Lauderdale, Argenis Hurtado Moreno, Jena Thoma and Andie Thompson.
Documentation of a community event led by artist David Bayles that was inspired by the installation of fiber optic cable in rural Philomath, Oregon. The centerpiece of the event was a single 24-foot-long roll of art paper on which Bayles had printed 15 photographs that he had taken of fiber optic cable being laid. In the border areas of this print, participants were invited to write stories, thoughts and ideas on connection and communication in the year 2020. The event was held on January 3, 2021 at the Independent Community Center.
Weekly pandemic journal written from March 30 - June 3, 2020 as a class assignment. Brownfield was living with his parents in Clatskanie, Oregon during this time.
Weekly pandemic journal written from March 31 - June 3, 2020 as a component of coursework assigned for PHL 203.
Interviews conducted by Carlson, the sports editor of the
Two journal entries written as a component of coursework assigned for an undergraduate Philosophy class. Golubchik was living in California during this time.
A daily diary written from March 16, 2020 - March 15, 2021, and set primarily in Truckee, California with occasional trips to Mill Valley, California. Entries cover many aspects of life during the pandemic, with special focus on issues affecting a restaurant business and a small law firm. Green was a 1981 graduate of OSU in Political Science.
Pandemic journal written from March 12 - April 30, 2020. Hay was a graduating senior at OSU.
Weekly pandemic journal written from April 5 - June 7, 2020 as a component of coursework assigned for PHL 203. Hunyh was a first year student at OSU.
Reflections on sewing hospital masks for health care workers during the summer of 2020. Folder also includes a photo of a car decal reading, "I helped sew 6 million masks." Johnson was an OSU alumna.
Photograph of a gouache on paper painting of the Special Collections and Archives Research Center (SCARC) reading room. Lawson was a student assistant in SCARC and created the painting from memory.
Weekly pandemic journal written from April 5 - June 7, 2020 as a component of assigned coursework. McOmber was an undergraduate senior at OSU.
Pre-print of an article authored by Moule and titled, "Nana Jean Experiences Covid-19 Infection and Consequences,"
Weekly pandemic journal written during Spring term, 2020. A first year undergraduate, Nyce was living in Corvallis and Junction City, Oregon during this time.
Submissions to weekly "Quarantine Challenges" issued to members of the Ocean 11 marine club at OSU, as led by Cynthia Leonard, academic advisor for the OSU Marine Studies Initiative. The challenges were designed to get club members out of their homes and into nature, with submissions consisting of photographs, videos or drawings documenting individuals' outings. The themes were as follows: 1. Bunches of Birds; 2. Pet Paparazzi; 3. Focus on Flora; 4. The Sky's the Limit; 5. Fun Fungi; 6. Feeding Frenzy; 7. Growing Gardens; 8. Go Wild.
Student participants included: Laurel Brinson-Larrabee, Landon Bunting, Russell Campbell, Jensen Davis, Ian Hofbeck, Nadia Leal, Delaney McGee, Hayleigh Middleton, Kelleigh Petersdorf, Seth Staten, Elizabeth Wirsching and Daisy Youmans.
Diary comic drawn during COVID-19 self isolation and reflecting on Paresa's experience of taking a Master Gardener class from OSU Extension and reading about chef Samin Nosrat, author of
Photo collage of the Nye Beach neighborhood in Newport, Oregon as collected by Perry on a walk through the area taken on April 4, 2020. Images include signage posted by area businesses and neighborhood residents. Perry was a Newport resident and the mother of an OSU graduate.
Weekly pandemic journal written from March 31 - June 2, 2020 as a component of coursework assigned for PHL 203. An undergraduate Computer Science major, Perry was living with his parents, who had recently moved from California to a new community in Arizona.
Photographs of Corvallis and the OSU campus during the pandemic. Images include signage posted by businesses and residents; scenes of stockpiling food, social distancing, and remote working and learning; masks placed on iconic outdoor art pieces; TRACE testing, food delivery robots, and desolation on the OSU campus. Images also include a sculpted flower arrangement expressing support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and scenes of smoky skies taken during the 2020 Labor Day fires. Petersen was a Corvallis resident and faculty member in the Special Collections and Archives Research Center.
Weekly pandemic diary written during Spring term, 2020. Quiring was a first year student at OSU.
Weekly pandemic journal written as a component of coursework assigned for an undergraduate Philosophy class.
Daily diary kept from March 2, 2020 to March 31, 2022. Shafer was an emeritus professor from Southern Oregon University living in Lincoln City, Oregon.
A compilation of kudos messages that highlighted good work done by staff in the OSU University Relations and Marketing division, as circulated during spring 2020. These messages were originally shared during meetings of the division's directors, and later were emailed division-wide. Signs was director of University Events.
Weekly pandemic journal written as a component of coursework assigned for an undergraduate Philosophy class.
Series 3 documents various forms of outreach extended by the OSU Libraries and Press during the COVID-19 pandemic. Included are digital surrogates of COVID-related signage that was posted throughout the Valley Library, as well as a virtual tour of library spaces that was created to guide use of the building during the period of limited reopening in Fall 2020.
The series also holds submissions to two initiatives centering on postcards. The
Digital postcards
Paper postcards
Paper postcards
Paper postcards
Led by OSU faculty member and social psychologist Regan Gurung,
poem
poem
poem
Contributors to the project were: Quinn Andreas, Ellen Beier, Jack Compere, Molly Curry, Tru Denton, Sarah Finkle, David Grube, Mari Beth Hackett, Forrest Johnson, Charlie Kelso, Colleen Kitchen, Erin MacAdams, Nancy Chestnut Matsumoto, Orion Olson, John Otto, Vic Russell, Linda Varsell Smith, Karen Stephenson, Kim Thackray, Marvel Vigil and Marion J. Whitney.
From April 2020 to March 2023, SCARC staff used the Archive-It web archiving tool to collect websites of interest as they evolved throughout the pandemic. This collection of preserved websites is available through the "
The most frequently crawled websites were OSU's official
Other collected websites included
Likewise included are crawls of five YouTube videos released by Oregon State University: "