CAMPUS SPRINGS TO LIFE AT UCONN
Residence halls at nearly full capacity as students move back in at Storrs
As he joined more than 3,500 first-year students moving into Uconn residence halls Friday, Mike Pederson of New Fairfield was looking forward to a return to something more normal.
“[High school] was remote, then it was hybrid, then it was in-person, then it was remote again. So hopefully, I’m looking forward to all in-person,” said the freshman, as he and his sister carried his belongings into the Towers residence Friday morning. “I’m excited, very nervous, but happy. It’s definitely a change of pace.”
In the parking lot, his mother, Laura Pederson, rested for a moment in the shade of her hatchback after unloading the car. Laura Pederson said she works in a hospital and her husband is a police officer, so they’ve tried to pass along the resilience they’ve learned in
their careers to their children.
“Nothing in life is ever going to be guaranteed. You can have a plan, but you need to learn to adapt. He’s done that really well,” she said of her son. “I’m not going to worry about him too much. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”
About 11,000 students are moving into Storrs through the weekend, making use of about 90% of the campus’ dorm capacity — roughly double the amount used last year. The remaining 10% of rooms are being set aside as isolation spaces for students who test positive for the coronavirus during the school year.
Uconn will continue to require mask-wearing and social distancing in common areas, but students say they’re willing to follow the COVID-19 guidelines if it means they can stay in-person. Less than 10% of Uconn’s classes are scheduled to be held online.
Earlier this summer, Uconn announced that students and staff would be required to get fully vaccinated against COVID19, unless they submitted requests for medical or nonmedical exemptions. As of Wednesday, about 96% of Storrs residential students were fully or partially vaccinated against COVID-19. Students who are not fully vaccinated will be tested upon arrival to campus and must quarantine for up to 10 days. While they can attend in-person classes during that time, they are not allowed to attend other group functions or events.
All students, staff and visitors are required to wear masks and adhere to social distancing protocols inside classrooms and other common areas on campus, regardless of vaccination status, Uconn said.
Freshman Dominick Garcia, from Staten Island, New York, said he doesn’t mind the extra rules.
“I feel 100% fine with that. As long as I’m able to go in-person to school, to walk around this campus instead of being holed up in my room in Staten Island, I would do anything,” said the 18-year-old, who is planning to be a pharmacist. “I’m really lucky to be here.”
Farmington resident Gini Mangla, who moved in her younger son Shaan Mangla, said she felt in-person education was particularly important for new students.
“I think that’s the way it should be, especially for a freshman class, to see their peers and professors faceto-face,” she said, as her older son Kieran Mangla agreed.
“He’s been looking forward to it for a while now,” said Kieran Mangla, a student at The College of William & Mary in Virginia. “I think it will be good for him to meet some new people, have new experiences and feel what it’s like to live on your own.”
Reassuring other parents, Gini Mangla added: “We’ve worked for 18 years to get them to this point. They will be OK.”
A few feet down the sidewalk,
Jim Enos of Groton, Massachusetts, watched over his youngest daughter Caroline’s belongings with
his older son Reilly Enos, a 2020 Uconn graduate.
“It’s weird to be back. I left when COVID was just
starting,” said Reilly Enos, who returned to Connecticut last spring to walk in the 2021 graduation ceremony
alongside other 2020 grads. Uconn canceled the 2020 commencement after the pandemic hit.
When COVID-19 cases began increasing again over the summer, Jim Enos said the family started to worry that Caroline’s college experience would be interrupted, like his son’s. But he’s hopeful that the school’s vaccination policy and safety protocols will prevent that from happening.
“Our kids all started off with a good experience. It was easy to meet your friend group. Then COVID hit and screwed it up at the end,” he said. “Last thing we want is for her to have to come home and spend a semester or a whole year virtual.”
Continuing and transfer students will move in Saturday and Sunday, and classes will start Monday.