Hopeful for a vaccine, USC begins spring semester amid coronavirus pandemic

The University of South Carolina resumed in-person classes Monday amid the coronavirus pandemic that continues to disrupt normal campus life.

Classes, when held on campus, will be limited to 100 students in classrooms; faculty can choose to work remotely; staff will be cleaning nearly every touchable thing on campus; masks will be required in every building and nearly everyone who studies or works on campus will have to provide monthly COVID-19 test results.

“We’ve learned valuable lessons since last March, and I thank each of you for demonstrating your commitment to the health and safety of our university community by testing often, maintaining physical distancing and wearing face coverings,” USC President Robert Caslen said in a Monday message to students.

“Even as we hopefully anticipate widespread vaccine administration this year, we cannot become complacent,” Caslen said in the letter.

Despite all the changes, undergraduate Whit Ashley said he is “excited” to begin classes on campus.

Ashley, 35, has had a different journey to get on campus than many undergraduates. After receiving his associates degree from Nashville State Community College in 2009, Ashley recently decided to enroll at USC to get a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies.

“Now seemed like a good time to go back to school and revamp my skill set for the changing economy,” Ashley said.

Ashley, who is living in an off-campus apartment, said he has several friends who are undergraduates. He has been encouraged by seeing them work hard.

“I have to say, I’m looking to this younger generation for inspiration,” Ashley said. “They seem to be confident in what confronts us.”

As COVID-19 case numbers continue to increase throughout the state, USC is recording an uptick in cases as classes resume. As of Friday, USC had 165 active cases, according to its online dashboard. That’s well below the 1,461 active cases USC had during its peak early in the fall semester. Case numbers on USC’s campus, however, are above the number of active cases seen near the middle/end of fall semester, when active case numbers hovered in the low double-digits.