Some too-near ancient history
Monday, February 2, 2026 at 8:32AM
Want to relive Covid days? I thought not. But I thought I'd post some teaching-related Covid protocols I rediscovered recently while cleaning up some digital files. How quaint these now seem:
“The University maintains information pages for all matters related to COVID 19. Stay current with N.C. laws and University policies, and help keep Boone safer than tourists and jerks do. Keep up with Hayes School of Music policies, too, which are normally disseminated via the MUS 1500 Performance Seminar AsULearn page.”
“Sanitization: The best way to keep the organs virus-free is to sanitize yourself, before approaching an organ. Wash your hands before, don’t touch your face during, and wash your hands after. It all comes down to cleaning you up before playing and to keeping your fingers out of your face. In addition to keeping you clean, we will clean the organs as follows:
“For the big organ: There is a bottle of mild soapy water in the relay closet backstage. Spray that water liberally on one of the yellow cloths, and wipe down manual keys, pistons, knobs, couplers, power switches, bench, bench crank, music rack, rolltop, doors, light switches, curtain switches, any areas on the console where you keep music and pencils, and anything else you have touched that isn’t yours. Keep careful track.
“For the practice organ: There is a bottle of mild soapy water in the practice room. Spray that water liberally on one of the yellow cloths, and wipe down manual keys, stop tabs, bench, bench crank, music rack, power switch, room light switch, filing cabinets, refrigerator, windowsill, doorknobs, and anything else you have touched that isn’t yours. Keep careful track.”
For my Theory class:
“Masks: Rules have been set by the State of North Carolina, the UNC System, and ASU, and they are always subject to change. Please stay up on the rules. A mask is useless if you allow it to fall off your nose, pull it down to talk, forget to put it on, or otherwise refuse to wear it. When you're inside a classroom building, masks will be mandatory -- that's a state rule, a University rule, and a Joby Bell rule.
“In addition to masks, keep your hands clean, and keep your hands out of your face. Just keeping fingers away from your face will make a huge difference. Trust no surface that you touch, and don’t allow anyone to trust any surface you have touched. The hottest virus spots are elevator buttons and door handles – don’t touch either of those with your bare fingers, ever. Don’t kiss anyone you weren’t kissing before March. Stop rubbing your eyes, picking your nose, and rubbing sore teeth with your fingers. Get in the constant frame of mind of keeping your hands clean and away from your face. If everyone did that, we could eradicate many more viruses than just one.”
“No matter what, stay safe and smart. Unsafe and idiotic will get us shut down.”
A bit of good did come from our Covid practices:
- The organ consoles were never cleaner.
- Zooming rendered snow days obsolete. Now, we no longer miss class days forcing us to scramble to make subject matter come out right in the end.
- During the worst of the quarantining, one of our faculty organized a Zoom meeting each Monday evening for any faculty who wanted to attend, just to chat and be together in a virus-free setting. And attend they did. Upwards of thirty to fifty people (out of 99) logged in each week, and I feel that our sense of community continues to enjoy that enhancement. Those Zoom meetings are still going on – even after Covid, the host faculty member figured, “Why not just continue?” So four of us continue to visit via Zoom every Monday night, when possible, even if we have all seen each other in the hallways all day and all week prior. It is in many ways one of my third spaces now, and everyone is still invited.