CORRECTION: For students to move into campus housing the past two weeks they had to possess a negative COVID PCR test two weeks before moving in or show proof of vaccination.
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Students at Southern University at New Orleans headed back to school for the fall semester on Monday.
Keshawn Whitfield and his friends are excited to be doing something that they haven’t been able to do in one year.
“It is a great feeling. I miss the feeling of being on campus,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield is now able to return back to campus to SUNO after a year of only virtual classes.
“Some people are visible learners, so I like to see my Professors in front of me interacting and communicating,” he said.
“The mood is great! Students are excited to be back,” Vice Chancellor at SUNO, Adriel Hilton said.
With students returning to face-to-face learning, SUNO is making sure the necessary pandemic precautions are being taken like students must wear masks, if you live on campus — you must be vaccinated or show proof of a negative COVID PCR test two weeks before moving into campus housing, and they will be testing students for COVID-19 twice a week.
“As a system, we hope these protocols keep our campus safe, so we can continue face-to-face learning,” Hilton said.
Other SUNO students feel the pandemic’s been hard on them, and they haven’t been able to have the true college experience because of it.
“The pandemic put me in a box at home because I like to interact with others,” Christian Davis said.
“You miss a lot of events and activities when you have a pandemic,” Shawnkhia Patterson said.
But they all said they don’t want to look back, and this new school year is a step forward.
“You know it is just really better overall for you academically and mentally as well to be back on campus,” Reyell Ponson said.
Enrollment for the fall semester continues the rest of this week at SUNO.