TCNJ students return to major snowball fight, then COVID-19 spike

Officials at The College of New Jersey do not believe that a 50-person snowball fight on campus caused a spike in COVID-19 cases at the school despite the student newspaper identifying it as a "super-spreader event."

According to the report by The Signal, the snowball fight was on the lawn outside of student housing buildings at the start of the semester earlier this month.

TCNJ's COVID-19 dashboard shows 48 confirmed cases in students and employees (29 on campus students, 22 off campus students, two off campus employees)  between Feb. 3 and 12 after zero positive cases on Feb.1 and 2.

"The college, through its contact tracing protocols, has not directly connected the snowball fight to those cases," spokesman Luke Sacks told New Jersey 101.5 in an email.

A student told The Signal that the students who participated in the fight were "closely huddled together" and many did not have masks on completely.

All students had the option to return to the Ewing campus for the spring semester, which began on Feb. 1. Students were required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test seven days before arriving on campus and asked to comply with "Roscoe's Pledge," which included guidelines on physical distancing, mask wearing, hygiene practices, and daily self-health checks on the the school's app.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ