Pictured Above: Enjoy a turkey dinner with your friends and family on Thanksgiving, even if it’s virtual.
Sophie Ojdanic | The Crow’s Nest
By Sophie Ojdanic
Savannah Billett usually spends Thanksgiving morning watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and helping prepare for the 50 or more guests that will arrive at her house.
This year, Billett, a senior mass communications major, is still unsure of her plans.
“My mom is flying to Maine with my stepdad and me and my brother are staying (in Florida),” Billett said. “We might spend it with our grandparents and dad, but the plan is still unsure. Normally we have a plan by now, but everything is still up in the air.”
The Office of the President issued a letter to students, faculty and staff on Friday sharing recommendations for the break and spring semester.
The letter urged students and faculty to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines during the holiday season, with an emphasis on travel.
“Travel is known to increase risk, so extra vigilance is warranted. If you must travel, be sure to review regulations that may be in place at your destination.
“To also minimize this risk, residential students who plan to remain in their residence halls for the duration of the fall semester are strongly encouraged to avoid travel and large gatherings during Thanksgiving break. Similarly, faculty and staff should consider the risks associated with travel and gathering with others and plan to self-isolate after the holidays or at a minimum, be extra vigilant in following all mitigation measures to prevent any further exposure.”
The letter, signed by President Steve Currall, also praised students’ “consistent commitment to the well-being of our community.
“While USF’s tremendous resiliency doesn’t surprise me, it does reinforce my immense gratitude for being part of a community that is unified by a responsibility to adapt our thinking, traditions and behaviors to prioritize the health and safety of others.”
Freshman education major Barbara Figueredo said she plans to travel to Memphis this holiday season to be with family.
Junior mass communications major Tara Zimmerman said she always spends the holiday with her family in either Florida or Pennsylvania.
“I’ll be having Thanksgiving with my dad, so in Florida,” Zimmerman said. “Otherwise, going up to Pennsylvania was an option, but with (COVID-19), not so much.”
The CDC suggest low-risk activities such as a small dinner with people who live in your household, a virtual dinner with shared recipes and watching sports events, parades and movies from home.
It deems small outdoor dinners as moderate-risk activities. Other outdoor activities like visiting pumpkin patches or attending an outdoor sports event are also rated moderate-risk.
The CDC included shopping in crowded stores, visiting crowded sporting events or parades or attending a large indoor gathering as high-risk activities.
These guidelines ensure that the Thanksgiving holiday season will be different this year than ever before.
Following Thanksgiving break, classes will all move online until the end of the semester. Students who live in residence halls are permitted to return to halls after the break. Dining halls will also remain open after Thanksgiving break with limited hours.
Students and staff will continue the semester through an online format, delivering the last of the semester’s instruction and final exam’s through an online format following Thanksgiving break.
