‘It feels good to show your face.’ UK semester begins with fewer COVID restrictions

As students returned to class at the University of Kentucky on Monday, some said they were excited for the college semester they had been imagining, but hadn’t yet experienced.

For some, this fall is the first time they’ve attended UK without a mask requirement or plexiglass shields in classrooms and offices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Masks are encouraged but not required this year, and things felt like they were returning to how it was before the pandemic, several students said.

Mask requirements had been in place at UK since students returned to campus for the fall 2020 semester.

Cate Wollert, a junior from Louisville, said she noticed more social interaction taking place on campus. She’s less worried about COVID this year than she was last year, she said, but will make decisions about wearing a mask on campus after seeing how things go this week.

“I was happy to wear masks last year, so if it amps up again, I have no problem going back to that,” Wollert said. “I’m feeling it out this week, and if it seems like a lot of people are wearing masks, then I’ll probably go back to wearing it.”

In her first class on Monday, she noticed more people participating in class discussions. Without masks, it was easier to read facial expressions and respond, she said.

Her professor wore a mask, and told students who would feel more comfortable masked that they were welcome to do so too. She was glad that conversation took place, because it made students feel comfortable no matter what they chose to do, Wollert said.

“People seem more comfortable interacting with each other, and raising their hand to ask questions and stuff,” Wollert said.

Fayette County was considered at high risk for COVID transmission as of Aug. 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That designation is based on the number of new COVID cases and COVID-related hospitalizations. In counties that have a high risk level, the CDC recommends wearing face masks in public settings. Masks are still required at UK HealthCare facilities.

Masks and hand sanitizer are still located around campus, including in classrooms and residence halls. UK is prepared to move to online instruction or bring back a mask requirement if needed, UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said earlier this summer. The university will monitor COVID conditions over the coming weeks to help guide decisions about the fall.

Callie Sudlow, a freshman from Mt. Blanchard, Ohio, said she was nervous on Monday, but her first class helped calm her nerves. Her professor went over the attendance policy, which included flexibility in case someone needed to miss class for health reasons.

Sudlow said she’s “hoping for the best,” because she wants to experience the things she missed out on in recent years.

“I’m so tired of COVID,” Sudlow said. “It messed up my high school at home, sports and everything like that. So to kind of get a fresh start, and move on past it a little bit, hopefully, has been nice.”

Rougui Diallo, a sophomore from Florence, said the biggest difference she noticed on campus so far was the social aspect.

“That social interaction is something that I missed out on my first year of college,” she said. “My last year of high school, everybody was at home, doing work from home, school from home, everything like that. It’s nice to have that social interaction and be able to speak to one another without standing 10 feet away.”

Diallo said she feels safe on campus with the measures UK put in place last year and this year.

“I just feel like it’s a safe community,” Diallo said.

UK will focus on vaccines this year — encouraging everyone on campus to get vaccinated or the booster shot if they have not already, Blanton said. Like last year, there will be incentives for students and employees who submit proof of vaccination. Last year, incentives included study abroad trips, iPads and tickets to UK football and basketball games.

This year, vaccinations and boosters are available in the Gatton Student Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, according to the university website.

At the end of the spring 2022 semester, UK reached a vaccination rate of nearly 92%, with 90.2% of students, 97.3% of faculty and 93.2% of staff vaccinated. UK HealthCare, which required employees to be vaccinated, had a 93% vaccination rate, according to UK’s COVID dashboard at the end of the semester.

Corey Mucker, a sophomore from Louisville, said he was happy to see more people on campus. Mucker said he had fewer concerns about COVID this year than he did last year, and was hoping to be “more outgoing than I was last year.”

So far, the fall semester felt more like he’d imagined it would be when he was in high school, he said.

“It feels good to show your face and see what everybody looks like,” Mucker said.