ORANGEBURG, S.C. — South Carolina State University (SCSU) students and staff say they're eager to be back on campus.
"I'm so excited to be back in person and nervous," expressed Kareem Walker, Graduating SCSU Student.
"Our students are very excited to be back," said Dr. Jessica Berry, SCSU's Acting Department Chair of Speech Pathology & Audiology. "Classes started at 9:00 am, and our students were in the building at 8:45 am."
The first day of school was supposed to be on August 18th, but the spike in positive coronavirus cases across the state pushed that date back to August 23rd.
The school is not requiring COVID-19 vaccinations.
SC State now requires students and staff to wear a mask when in buildings.
"If you really want an on-campus experience, you have to wear the masks," said Dr. Learie Luke, SCSU's Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, "that way, we don't have to shut down and go virtual."
SC State has a COVID-19 dashboard, but it was recently taken down because the institution is currently developing a new one for public access. A spokesperson for the university says they have zero reported coronavirus cases so far.
The school also doesn't have a timeline to lift its mask mandate.
"I'm okay with the mask mandate because everybody is not vaccinated," said Walker. "It's better than nothing. If we all get vaccinated, then we will be okay."