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College Men & Post-Pandemic Resocialization
guy, but talk about an impossible job [during the pandemic]. The people who followed
rules kinda faded into the background because he spent so much time enforcing rules. "
Despite the efforts of paraprofessional staff to encourage socializing in the halls,
participants talked about the struggles they faced creating connections. As Jeffrey, a
Black third-year student, expressed it, " My roommate and like two other guys-that
was my friend group. I was scared that we'd stop being friends because you ran the
risk of not finding another group. " Department-sponsored events created tension for
some participants, who were unsure about whether or not they should be part of a
group, even temporarily. Tommy, an Asian American third-year student, said, " I felt
bad for going to [programs] even when [my RA] put them on. It was a weird energy
to hang out in groups. " Jordan, a White third-year student, commented, " There were
times I felt like I lived in my own little world when the rest of the world closed in
on us. " Participants shared that even when residential life staff attempted to provide
programming, institutional messaging about limiting social gatherings and keeping
close friend groups small subconsciously inhibited social connections, creating
tension for participants as they sought connection but found themselves even more
acutely socially isolated.
Managing Social Re-Entry
Another theme that emerged from the data was the process of managing social re-entry.
Participants articulated challenges associated with processing social expectations and
deciding how and when to step back into the patterns of social life they were accustomed
to prior to the pandemic. The immediacy of social re-entry was evident when
discussing experiences in the context of campus residence halls. While classroom interactions
provided structured, concrete opportunities for social interaction in controlled
settings, life in the residence halls was a wide-open social landscape that was, for many,
uncharted territory.
Participants were asked directly if they felt like they or their peers were making
up for lost time by engaging more deeply in social interactions on campus because of
what they had lost previously due to institutional restrictions. Many of them described
the scramble that ensued to try to capture as much socially as they could, yet they clearly
articulated the challenges associated with figuring out the best ways to jump into a
social life when they returned to their campus living spaces in the fall.
Despite portrayals in the media and the conjecture they heard
from external sources, participants felt that the pandemic had
the potential to shape masculinity in positive ways. In fact,
the pandemic was a turning point for how several participants felt
masculinity should be viewed.
38 The Journal of College and University Student Housing

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