The Return to Green Means Campus Life in Fredericton is Back on Track
Fredericton, NB– In June of this year, Saint Thomas University announced their plan to return to 65% of full capacity for in-person classes via an official email sent by President Dawn Russell. While students are eager to move away from online learning, they’ve found that campus health regulations will change the way they do so.
September 7th marked the opening of campus for classes after over a year of virtual learning. As a part of the campus’s initiative to welcome students back, both first and second-year students were encouraged to participate in this year’s welcome week activities.
A casino night and the classic STU cheer-off marked the beginning of many students’ experience on campus for the first time. Since this reopening, university staff has worked tirelessly to rework public spaces on campus to properly abide by the CDC’s public health guidelines concerning social distancing.
The new precautions require all classrooms and study areas to be altered to accommodate the two-meter recommendation for social distancing. Although this has meant students are required to maintain space away from their peers, being on campus again is making everyone feel closer than ever before. Cooperation amongst students and staff on campus is crucial to the community’s fight against COVID-19 as students try to maintain their space, and their grades.
This return delights students who’ve missed friends and professors over the past year. However, social distancing measures are changing the day-to-day ways students study on campus. Professors and students feel personally obligated to keep themselves and others safe by maintaining the high standard of health that is outlined by the University.
Reinaldo Cascante, a third-year student at Saint Thomas, explains the strain these regulations place on the student’s shoulders.
“I think there’s a lot of pressure to be safe even though there’s a lot of restrictions in place. Personally, I find myself going to the study hall still wearing my mask feeling pressure to be safe and protected from other people. I think that really messes up with my concentration and how much I dedicate my mind and body to studying.”
Campus and residence life representatives are ultimately tasked with this delicate process of maintaining student happiness, while also protecting the community through the COVID guidelines implemented thus far.
As cases continue to sporadically rise in the province, additional measures are already being put into place.
Starting September 22 at 11:59 P.M, All New Brunswickers will again be required to wear a mask in public places regardless of their vaccination status. Although this regulation has already been mandated on campuses across the province, it only further pushes responsibility onto the campus community to keep each other safe.
Regardless of the restrictions on campus, students are still hopeful for a safe year back. “I’m just happy to see my friends, to meet new people, and make new connections with classmates I never got the chance to meet,” says Cascante.
Although he still has times where he worries about catching the virus himself, Cascante says the on-campus experience of having in-person classes is well worth the risk.
“I feel as though being in person increases the quality of the educational experience we receive on campus which we, unfortunately, lost out on last year.”
As for what the future holds, President Dawn Russell and the staff at Saint Thomas continue to monitor changing health guidelines and COVID-19 rates within the province on a daily basis. The severity of the virus over the coming months will dictate the future of teaching and student life on campus for the present semester and the months following.