University of Minnesota freshman Annie Ayotte grappled with mixed feelings Tuesday as she and countless other new students pushed carts full of their belongings into dormitories on the Twin Cities campus.
On one hand, Ayotte said she is excited to begin a new life chapter and meet friends after more than a year of social distancing. But she's also nervous the ongoing pandemic could disrupt her first college semester like it did her last year at Wayzata High School, which wound up mostly online.
"My senior year of high school was just so terrible," Ayotte said as she waited for her parents outside Pioneer Hall. "I'm just hoping it's going to be better."
Minnesota's largest college campus was bustling Tuesday as first-year students settled into their new home, mingled with others and said emotional goodbyes to their parents.
They were greeted by dozens of student volunteers who helped them unload furniture, food and other necessities. It was a much livelier scene than last year when fewer students were living on the U's campus and most classes were taught online.
"It's night and day," Grant Anderson, the U's interim associate director of residential life, said while manning an information booth near several dormitories. "The students are really excited to be here. The families are excited to be here. They've missed out on so much the last two years, and this is the thing they have probably circled on their calendar for a year."
About 80% of U classes are slated to be taught in person this fall and campus traditions such as welcome week events and full-capacity football games are returning.
Last fall, about 70% of U classes were online and all courses shifted to distance learning after Thanksgiving break. Students were delayed two weeks from moving into campus dormitories and once they arrived, they had to abide by curfews and restrictions resembling a stay-home order.
The only restrictions in place this year are indoor masking and COVID-19 vaccination requirements, measures that U leaders hope will help preserve an in-person fall semester. The university is also reserving some dorm rooms for isolation and quarantine space, though not as many as it did last fall, Anderson said.
Freshmen and their parents were generally optimistic about the coming semester, even with the delta variant fueling a surge in COVID-19 cases. Their opinions differed on the masking and vaccination mandates.
"Hopefully with all that in place we can stay on campus for as long as possible," said U freshman Evan Jinks, who will study computer science. After more than a year of distance learning, Jinks said he is both excited and nervous about socializing.
U freshman Rhylee Haensel and her mother, Linda, said they would have preferred for students to be given the choice on vaccination. The U's mandate applies to all students attending its five campuses and allows for exemptions based only on medical or religious reasons.
Even so, the mother and daughter were happy to be on campus. They moved to Minnesota recently from Washington state. Haensel enrolled in the U's Carlson School of Management, and her mom took a job in St. Cloud to stay close to her.
"I'm kind of freaking out," Linda Haensel said of her daughter moving out of the house. Her son also just left to attend college in Des Moines.
Vidyadhar Joshi was also nervous about his 17-year-old son, Rishikesh, moving to campus — but for a different reason. Joshi lives in India, where the delta variant was first identified.
Both were there over the summer when the variant-fueled wave of COVID-19 cases ravaged the country.
"There is some anxiety, and I told him to take the necessary precautions," Joshi said.
Rishikesh Joshi, who is vaccinated and hopes to major in computer science, walked over and reassured his father.
"I've been sanitizing my [dorm] area very well," he said. "I'm really excited to start classes."
Ryan Faircloth • 612-673-4234
