“I believe that campus will be open but with certain restrictions. Classes will be smaller in an effort to minimize exposure, and if an outbreak does occur the University will not hesitate to quickly shift back to online.” 

Anthony Bui | @da_bui_

“For my own sanity, I’m going to tell myself that campus will be open in fall 2021. I’m also going to predict that by fall 2021, climate change will be fixed, world peace will prevail and I will win a million dollars.”

Cecile Girard | @_cegi_

“I honestly don’t know. I feel like I’m not in any position to make predictions about such an unpredictable situation, but I think it’d be nice to see some sense of (cautious) normalcy on campus. The pandemic has turned me into a raging pessimist though, so I’m not letting myself get too excited for the fall semester.”

Emily Davison | @ichigoemily

“That email LSU sent was extremely premature and at the rate the vaccine is being rolled out, I am cautiously optimistic that we will return to normal in the fall. There’s so much time between now and August and so many variables that are impossible to determine at the moment. When will students even be allowed to get vaccinated? What are the procedures going to be to ensure everyone’s safety if we return to a pre-pandemic status quo? As much as I would love to see August 2021 be ‘normal,’ I just don’t think it’s possible to determine what that future even looks like for our campus. Officials really put themselves in a tough situation with that email, because if we don’t open back up normally, they’re caught with their pants down. Only time will tell about whether we will be back on campus full time in the fall, but I doubt it’ll be the same version of ‘normal’ I came to Baton Rouge for.”

Domenic Purdy | @Tigerdom16

“Honestly, no. I think it would be great if we reached herd immunity and the University was able to go back to pre-COVID-19 life, but given the fact that LSU hasn’t even started distributing vaccines to the faculty and staff that regularly work on campus — much less the student body — I just don’t see it happening. Even if the University manages to start vaccinating students before May, the incoming freshmen class will most likely not have been vaccinated and, because of LSU’s mandatory freshmen on-campus housing rule, that will be the majority of the on-campus community.

I think that realistically the University will have to issue a statement mid-summer taking back their last email and saying that classes will still be hybrid for the most part in the fall and COVID-19 policies will stay in place until further notice.”

  Marie Plunkett | @MarieC_214

“I truly believe that campus will be open for the fall 2021 semester. There have been so many advancements regarding COVID-19. I am happy to look forward to campus opening back up. Life has already started going back to normal for other countries, so it’s a shame that America is so behind. I am tired of hearing that COVID-19 will hold us back because it’s a very pessimistic view on life.”

Tamia Southall | @tamiebrem_

“I really hope campus will be fully open in the fall of 2021. I think by the time the next semester rolls around, enough people will have received the vaccine. Honestly, I think there are safe ways to attend in-person classes right now, so by fall, it should be even better. Many students cannot bear the thought of another online semester. I find we are not learning near as much as we would in the classroom, yet we are paying the same as if we were. I am eagerly awaiting a return to normal college life and seeing my fellow Tigers in class.” 

Elizabeth Crochet | @elizabethcro_

“My guess is that we will continue to see a mix of in-person and online classes next semester. Perhaps even the majority will be in-person, but I have a hard time believing that the University will have returned to pre-COVID-19 normalcy by the time the fall rolls around and I seriously doubt Zoom classes are going anywhere quite yet. I would love to be proven wrong, of course.”

Evan Leonhard | @evan_leonhard

“I’m not optimistic that campus will be fully back to normal in fall 2021, and I think the University’s proclamation that it would be was premature. I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard someone incorrectly predict when the pandemic would be ‘over’ (whatever that even really looks like). Maybe I’ve just been burned by false hope too many times over the last year, but I think it’s best to brace ourselves for a long ride ahead rather than a short one.”

Claire Sullivan | @sulliclaire