Incoming UW System Students Hope Vaccinations Will Bring A More ‘Normal’ School Year

Thousands of college students moved into residence halls at University of Wisconsin System campuses over the weekend amid a surge of off-campus coronavirus infections reaching levels not seen since January. After spending much of the past year online, students arriving at western Wisconsin colleges said they’re eager to return to in-person classes and optimistic vaccinations will keep their campuses open.

There was no ignoring the anticipation Saturday at UW-Eau Claire as a parade of families steered vehicles bursting with laundry baskets, plastic totes and furniture down University Drive toward the cluster of dorms known as upper campus. It marked a stark contrast from the appointment-based move-in system used last fall.

But the most obvious change was the small army of upperclassmen in blue shirts assisting families as they moved the arrivals into their new homes.

“We see families moving stuff out of their cars, we offer to help,” said senior Erin Dunn as she stood outside Governor’s Hall with three fellow volunteers from UW-Eau Claire’s Bluegold Marching Band.

“So each dorm is different,” she said. “I can tell you I helped a family and I climbed up to (Karlgaard) Towers’ ninth floor three times.”

Freshman Adam Augustine of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, gave a shoutout to volunteers from the university’s cross country team as he carried a clear plastic bin full of dorm room essentials toward the hall.

Most of Augustine’s senior year of high school was online, and he said it was sometimes difficult to keep track of courses and stay motivated watching hours of lectures on Zoom. He’s glad his college classes will be in-person and is hopeful students who have been voluntarily vaccinated like him will help keep the campus from shutting down due to outbreaks.

“But if that time comes, you know, we just have to be able to adjust,” said Augustine. “There’s not much we can do about it. So, we’re just going to have to find a way to make it happen, you know?”

Public universities in Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois have required vaccinations. Some private colleges in Wisconsin have mandates as well.

During the summer, faculty advocacy groups urged UW System leaders to do the same and argued not requiring vaccinations will risk the safety of students and employees. UW System interim President Tommy Thompson has said he won’t require vaccinations. He’s instead offering seventy $7,000 scholarships in a lottery for vaccinated students on campuses with vaccination rates above 70 percent.

As she stood amid a line of families and incoming students stretching out the door of Karlgaard Towers dorm Saturday, freshman Piper Hodne of Woodbury, Minnesota said she’s hoping to avoid another year of online classes. She said she’s been vaccinated and believes there should be a requirement for other eligible students as well.

“I feel like it would be nice if there was, just to be assured that most people are vaccinated,” she said.

Politically, a vaccine mandate at UW System schools seems to be a non-starter. In early August, a Republican-led state legislative committee attempted to block state colleges from requiring masks, coronavirus testing and potential vaccine mandates. The co-chair of the committee supported a lawsuit against the UW System when Thompson pushed back. A legal battle seemed less likely, though, after a high-ranking Republican in the state Assembly said it would add confusion to an already stressful time for students.

Speaking from his office, UW-Eau Claire geology professor Kent Syverson said the primary mandate for the UW System is to educate students in the safest way possible.

“As a person who is working in the university, it seems to me politicians should be focusing on what they do and the university should be focusing on what we do,” he said.

Syverson said the campus was buzzing with students after a year of social distancing restrictions and online classes made the university “a pretty sad place.”

He said he’s excited to be able to teach his oceanography class, with more than 100 students in person again so he can “grill” his students more efficiently.

“The feeling I have going into this academic year is so different from last year,” said Syverson. “And I think the students can feel that, too. This is a new beginning, a new start, and let’s take advantage of it.”

UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stout and UW-River Falls, like other UW campuses, aren’t limiting the number of students allowed in classrooms or common areas like they did this spring and last fall.

Also, rules on COVID-19 testing aren’t as universal across the UW System as they were last year. For example, UW-River Falls plans to use a “prevalence testing protocol” that will only sample 10 percent of unvaccinated students and employees each week. UW-Stout and UW-Eau Claire will require weekly testing for all unvaccinated individuals.

As the fall semester kicks off, hospital officials in places like La Crosse and Eau Claire have been pleading with citizens to get vaccinated against the disease. A week ago, Mayo Clinic Health System regional chair of administration for northwestern Wisconsin, Jason Craig, said their seven-day average for the daily positivity rate surpassed 13 percent. He said a daily positivity rate of 5 percent indicates a high level of community spread.

Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have also been increasing statewide. On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported 92 percent of intensive care unit beds in the state are being used.

The majority of people contracting the virus and being hospitalized are unvaccinated.

At this point, most UW institutions are still determining what percentage of their campus population has been vaccinated. Some have conducted surveys, but the most accurate measure will come from vaccination records submitted by students and employees. UW System spokesperson Mark Pitsch told WPR his office expects to begin reporting vaccination rates in mid-September. On Wednesday, UW-La Crosse announced it was the first state comprehensive state university with a confirmed 70 percent vaccination rate among students.

Move-in was more muted Saturday at UW-Stout with the university using appointments for families moving students to campus. Freshman Addison Lanthier of Duluth, Minnesota and her parents were moving into the CKTO residence hall. She said she and her roommate have been vaccinated and she’s excited to get back into the classroom.

“Life is crazy, and we don’t really know how it’s going to go,” said Lanthier. “But I’m optimistic that the cases will stay low and I’ll be able to be in-person all year. I’m totally willing to go home and switch if need be.”

Further west that same day at UW-River Falls, a caravan of vehicles stopped briefly outside Crabtree Hall and families quickly transferred their students’ things into piles on the sidewalk. Volunteers from campus student organizations then swooped in to help get them into the building.

Freshman Tallie Utley of Minneapolis stood by what was arguably the largest mound of things destined for the dorm as her parents parked the car. She said she’s excited to study things she’s interested in rather than “going through the motions” in high school.

Utley said she’s vaccinated but doesn’t think they should be mandated. She supports the campus mask mandate even though she said they can make her feel claustrophobic. She said she’s willing to deal with it to keep outbreaks, like the one that closed campus for two weeks in fall of 2020, from happening again.

“I’ve been pretty worried about that just because I actually had a friend who went here (last fall),” said Utley. “She’s a junior right now, and they wouldn’t let people in the rooms at all. No visitors. Everything was shut down.”

As Utley’s parents, Tina and Chad, began sizing up how many trips might be needed to get all of Tallie’s belongings into the dorm, Tina said she hopes there won’t be any COVID-19 disruptions this year, but she believes the pandemic has made students like Tallie more resilient in the face of change.

“I think they’re here for an experience,” said Tina. “It’s not really the experience they’re going to ask for, but hopefully it’ll be another bump that’ll make them stronger in the end.”