Although the COVID-19 crisis created challenges for university students around the world, Queen’s Law students made an important discovery: not even a pandemic can break the bonds within their close-knit community. Three students share their journeys through the final seven weeks of the academic year.  

Newly elected Law Students’ Society President Ross Denny-Jiles, Law’22, was in his first Faculty Board meeting on March 13, when he first heard about classes being suspended. “While everyone had been speculating as to what Queen’s official response to COVID-19 would be, that’s when it really sank in that the coming weeks and potentially months might look very different from what any of us had expected,” he says.  
  
“I remember leaving the law school that afternoon in a sort of daze,” he adds. “It was a Friday and as quiet as campus normally is around that time, it was absolutely silent.” 

Outgoing LSS President Colette Koopman, Law’20, was in a meeting with fellow members of the Faculty’s Strategic Planning Committee when the news came down about the suspension of undergraduate classes. “Initially, I wondered whether this cancellation applied to us,” she says. “I communicated this confusion to the senior administration and Deanna Morash (Executive Director of Administration and Finance) was on top of getting more information.” 

Shailaja Nadarajah, Law’21, didn’t know it at the time, but her last in-person class of the term was Evidence on March 11. “Professor Lisa Kelly made a joke when she concluded class that maybe the next time we saw her, it would be on Zoom,” Nadarajah recalls. “Everyone laughed because no one actually thought that would be the case then, but in three days, we realized that was actually the new reality.”

Their lives changed suddenly, and they found ways to cope with this new reality. 

“I tried to stay in constant contact with my friends and family,” says Koopman. “Talking to others experiencing the same uncertainty was comforting.” 

“Soon after classes were cancelled, coffee shops started moving to take-out only and measures were getting more restricted by the day,” says Nadarajah. “I realized it would be difficult to be in isolation by myself, so I decided to return home.”

For Denny-Jiles, the most important thing is having compassion for oneself and others. “We are all finding this hard in our own ways and it’s so important to find strategies to cope with the increased anxiety that our new reality has brought upon us,” he says. 
 
This year’s cohort of students became the first to learn by remote teaching using various technological tools. 

Koopman had never even taken an online course before, so the experience was quite different for her. Nevertheless, she applauds her teachers. “Professors did an excellent job engaging with students and continually refining their classes to see what worked most effectively,” she says. “Using Zoom breakout rooms, some of my professors were able to simulate discussion groups in classes.” 

Noting that remote learning, like everything else, was an adjustment, Denny-Jiles says, “What struck me most about the transition was how graceful and patient both students and professors were with each other as we all learned what worked best in the online versions of our classes.”

For Nadarajah, working with the Queen’s Family Law Clinic gave her a sense of normalcy. “Though we were no longer able to go in to the clinic offices,” she explains, “the clinic staff worked tirelessly to ensure that we were still receiving the support we needed from home, whether that be holding supervision meetings, talking to review counsel over the phone, or getting files scanned.” 

After classes wrapped up and the study period ended, students had another new experience: completing their final exams remotely. 

“I’m a creature of habit, so it was certainly difficult to adjust to a different study space and setting for writing exams,” says Nadarajah. “Luckily, my kitchen counter made a great make-shift standing desk and in the days leading up to my exams, I tried my best to maintain my usual exam study routine.”

“It was nice to be able to stand up and make myself a cup of coffee when I felt my energy levels waning,” says Denny-Jiles. 

“Not being surrounded by other students alleviated some of the nerves leading up to the exam,” says Koopman, “but as soon as I downloaded an exam file, those nerves all came back.”

As the outgoing and incoming LSS presidents, Koopman and Denny-Jiles worked during the crisis with the school’s senior administrative team: Dean Mark Walters, Associate Deans Art Cockfield and Josh Karton, Assistant Deans Phillip Drew and Laura Kinderman, and Executive Director Deanna Morash. 

“Throughout this crisis, the senior administration has been receptive to student comments, responsive to emerging issues and alive to the struggles students are facing,” says Koopman. “Everyone on the senior administration team was willing to listen to student concerns and we had several video calls with the team to try to work out issues together. Their willingness to share the reasons for making various decisions and keep students updated was greatly appreciated.” 

Due to the timing, the first meetings then-President-elect Denny-Jiles had with members of the administration were to discuss the crisis. “I’m very pleased with how we were able to work together to respond,” he says. “Finding a path forward regarding exams and grading was challenging and we knew there was always going to be room for reasonable people to disagree about what the best approach would be. 

“Given the novelty of the situation,” he adds, “I was impressed with how members of the outgoing and incoming LSS worked together with the administration to respond quickly but effectively while continuing to consult with students about their experiences.”

Throughout the unprecedented final seven weeks of term, what stood out, as Koopman puts it, was the “collegiality, care and thoughtfulness of the Queen’s Law community.  
 
“People took the time to check in on one another and make sure they were all updated,” she explains. “I was very appreciative of the numerous people who reached out to me to check in and offer their assistance. LSS Reps even did porch drop-offs of this semester’s clothing orders, which got delivered after social distancing measures had gone into effect.” 

“The Queen’s Law community, both students and professors, have been so supportive during these strange times,” says Nadarajah. “I was in such a rush to go home that I left an important part of an assignment back in Kingston. My professor, Christa Bracci, immediately responded on a Sunday and scanned me the copy that she had. 

“To prepare for exams, my other professors, Lisa Kelly and Alyssa King, were really accommodating in carving out time to do individual Zoom meetings with students,” she adds.

“In a time when keeping your head down and getting through the end of semester could not be more understandable,” says Denny-Jiles, “I have been struck by the level of compassion and concern that different members of our community have displayed.

“Whether it’s students reaching out to advocate for their peers in complicated home situations or professors trying to get a sense of how their classes are responding, everyone has been concerned for the wellbeing of others,” he continues. “We should all be proud to be at a school where the impulse of the people around us in a time of crisis has been to look out for those around them.”

Now one week officially in his new role as LSS President, Ross Denny-Jiles shares his advice about dealing with uncertainty. “Be kind with yourselves in the coming weeks and months,” he emphasizes. “Connect with those around you in the ways that you can. Stay safe and healthy. Remember that we’re all doing the best we can and that we’ll get through this together.”

By Lisa Graham