Hofstra students and staff reflect on the Fall 2021 semester

Photo courtesy of Julian Rocha

As the 2021 fall semester comes to an end, Hofstra students and staff have begun to reflect on the past few months and the upcoming spring semester.

“I didn’t expect to see so many people here,” said junior music business major Adam Yusupov.

“I definitely felt like there were more people than when I first came here,” said senior computer science major Jade Shepardson.

However, while some students enjoyed the full capacity campus, others felt that Hofstra may have made the wrong choice in how it re-opened.

Junior computer science major Jordan Miner felt overwhelmed by Hofstra reopening due to the unpredictability of COVID-19 and she felt that the university may have rushed into opening.

Students shared mixed opinions about how people at Hofstra have conducted themselves when taking safety precautions.

“We are all vaccinated, I’ve taken COVID tests,” Yusupov said. He also added that he stayed home when feeling sick to keep others safe.

However, not everyone agreed that the Hofstra community is doing its best to keep each other protected.

“There is practically no more social distancing,” Shepardson said. “People have gotten very lax with masks, myself included.”

“I definitely think students could protect themselves more,” Miner said.

Miner and Shepardson both shared concerns over stations such as the self-serve salad and soup bar, where it is much easier to spread germs, especially if precautionary measures are not being followed.

However, despite these concerns, Hofstra’s Together Again dashboard shows how many COVID-19 tests have been administered and a total count of positive results. There have been 57 total positive results out of 12,209 COVID-19 tests administered on campus from Friday, Aug. 27, to Friday, Dec. 3.

Colin Sullivan, the Director of Communications in Student Affairs, stated that although the community is going through “pandemic fatigue,” the Hofstra student body has done a great job keeping cases low. Students have been cooperative in taking measures to stay safe such as taking part in surveillance testing, following Guide to Pride procedures, getting vaccinated and wearing masks when required.

As the number of cases wind down and Hofstra has opened to full capacity, students have varying opinions about the continued use of Zoom as a tool for education.

“We should start to transition away from Zoom,” said Yusupov. “A lot of people pay a large amount of money to go to this school.”

However, others expressed that Zoom has its place for learning and can still be utilized by those who need it. Shepardson expressed her belief in the utility of Zoom but felt it should be limited to those who must use it, such as students living in other countries, people with certain religious beliefs and the immunocompromised.

“I think we should still use it for the summer courses,” said junior computer science major Jordan Miner.

When talking about regulations such as the visitor policy, Shepardson said, “It’d be nice to have more people in the dorm. It’d also be nice to have people who aren’t just Hofstra students.”

Since COVID-19 is still prominent in students’ daily lives, other students are more hesitant to see big changes. Some students are worried about the new variant, while others view the variants as a part of daily life when dealing with COVID-19.

“I’m not too worried considering the precautions I’ve already taken and we’ve had other variants in the past so I just feel like this is another one of those [variants],” said Yusupov.

Sullivan also stated that regarding the future of Hofstra and the Spring 2022 semester, it is a little bit early know what to expect. Hofstra will continue to follow the guidelines of the CDC, WHO and The White House.

“I am always amazed at how many students I see wearing masks outside while they are walking to class. The reality is that our students have the power to keep our halls open or to put the residential community experience in jeopardy. We have never had to consider shutting our halls or pausing classes. That is a real, tangible accomplishment,” said Beth McGuire, Senior Assistant Dean and Director of Residence Life.