Lisa Wade, an associate professor of sociology at Tulane University and author of "American Hookup," has announced her new book, "Exposed: A College in Crisis Puts Science to the Test," released on Dec. 8. The book examines how Tulane administrators and students responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing on a survey of 150 students.
Four Groups Based on Compliance
To understand the campus atmosphere, Wade polled 150 students and sorted them into four categories according to how strictly they followed public health guidelines: COVID-careful, calculation, carefree and cavalier. Her research links those categories to different outcomes, most notably infection rates.
- COVID-careful: Students who often had family in the area and made a more serious commitment to public safety, with infection rates of around 3%.
- Cavaliers: Mostly freshmen who attended large parties despite a quarantine advisory, with a reported infection rate of 71%.
Wade said fraternities moved parties from university-recognized houses on Broadway Street to off-campus venues, which she identified as a contributor to the spread. She also spoke with those venues, which absorbed the risks of hosting during quarantine and of allowing underage drinking, and reported that they were quoted $25,000 per party.
Crisis Response Versus Community Purpose
According to Wade, Tulane concentrated heavily on crisis management during the pandemic and paid too little attention to the sociological effects on students. She compared the university's response with its recovery after Hurricane Katrina, when, in her account, the purpose of rebuilding the institution and its civic life was clear. She argues that similarly encouraging messaging was missing after the pandemic.
"Students had to come up with their own reasons for why they were going to be obedient to the how," she said. "Many did, but many others came up with other kinds of stories they wanted to tell themselves about how to survive that year."
Broader Questions About Leadership
Wade places the Tulane findings within larger questions about the role of the social sciences. In her words, the work asks how communities build solidarity, secure cooperation in a democracy, connect across differences and lead during a crisis. The book's research extends beyond Tulane, though its central case study remains the university's experience during the pandemic.