Pictured above: USF Interim President Rhea Law gave limited information on the University’s approach to the pandemic.
Courtesy of USF
By Aubrey Carr
Despite the recent rise in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, USF Interim President Rhea Law had little to say, but stayed hopeful, about the virus when she addressed the Faculty Senate last Wednesday.
“I am very hopeful that what everybody’s saying [about COVID-19] is true and that we’ve either peaked and are coming down the other side, or we’re very close and soon this isn’t going to be an issue,” Law said. “We just encourage vaccinations, wearing masks and staying home if you don’t feel well, all of those things that we’ve done to try and keep each other safe.”
Though Law remained optimistic about COVID-19’s current trajectory, the pandemic remains a fearful subject for the country –– a point echoed in a recently published survey led by USF researchers.
The nationwide survey of 1,000 eligible voters provided a representative sample closely aligned with U.S. demographics and asked questions regarding important political issues, including COVID-19.
While the poll showed an expected divide in opinion amongst Americans for many issues, one thought proved to be nearly unanimous –– an illustrated fear of pandemic-related issues.
Nearly a third of respondents (32%) reported belief that COVID-19 was the most critical issue currently facing the U.S. In contrast, less than 15% said the same about issues involving the economy (14%) or inflation (7%).
In a large majority, 74% of those polled said they are either “somewhat” or “very concerned” about emerging variants of the COVID-19 virus.
Additionally, the survey showed Americans are divided on a possible nationwide vaccination mandate, with 52% indicating some support for the mandate, and 47% opposing it.
While the survey displayed opinions from the nation as a whole, the USF community is far from immune from similar apprehension regarding COVID-19.
Speaking to the Faculty Senate, USF Provost Ralph Wilcox expressed his recent experience with student agitation toward faculty’s handling of COVID-19 related issues.
“I continue to receive the occasional concern from students enrolled in classes at the University of South Florida that they are having some occasional issues with faculty who are expressing an unwillingness to accommodate the needs of students who, by virtue of their health status are not able to attend in-person classes,” Wilcox said.
“I think we all recognize that the first two or three weeks of this semester were likely to present some pretty significant challenges with a surge in infections across the state of Florida and particularly in the Tampa Bay region.”
According to Natalie Walsh, a junior majoring in health science, USF’s problem with COVID-19 has little to do with the behavior of professors. Walsh, who is immunocompromised, dealt with attendance issues during the peak of the pandemic.
“My professors were always helpful when I couldn’t be in class, but the school had systems in place that kind of screwed me over,” Walsh said. “Having labs that I couldn’t take online and just having a general lack of accessibility.”
While she is now attending in-person classes, Walsh still thinks USF’s administrative handling of COVID-19 is detrimental to the university’s most vulnerable students.
“I think it’s just very irresponsible to have so many in-person classes and an overall lack of social distancing because I know so many people who got COVID and are struggling,” she said. “I hate that I have to risk my own health just to keep getting an education.”
