Life returned to the Fresno State campus this week as students arrived for in-person classes alongside new vaccine verification status prior to reentry on campus.

Students are required to verify their vaccination status through the student portal – or request a medical or religious exemption – in order to return to campus.

Currently, the Fresno State COVID-19 planning task force is developing a system to verify and document the vaccination cards that students have submitted by students.  

“We will be validating student vaccination cards through a third-party platform Point and Click used by our Student Health and Counseling Center (SHCC). An interface is currently being developed with our student common management system,” Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer Debbie Adishian-Astone said.

The current timeframe for the completion of the system is unknown at the time of reporting.

The Collegian reached out to a number of students, and many said the common classroom conditions included relatively full classrooms with little to no ability to adequately socially distance from one another.

Robert Delatorre, senior business administration major, described his classroom condition as a bit uncomfortable as he had yet to readjust to in-person classes.

“Today, my first experience was like a cramped classroom; everyone’s got their mask on. It was a lot of heavy breathing around me. I’m going to have to get used to it because I’ve been virtual for the last year and a half,” Delatorre said.

Jayson Davis, 20-year-old junior psychology major, felt overwhelmed being back at the university after a year and a half of what he described as a rather boring virtual learning experience.

“It honestly feels pretty good. It’s been a year and a half since I’ve been here so the atmosphere is pretty nice,” Davis said. 

Having been vaccinated himself, Davis said that he felt safe coming to the university for in-person classes. He noted that the general atmosphere made him feel safe with the majority of students wearing masks indoors and even outside.

“A lot of people are wearing masks. Inside my class, everyone was wearing a mask … Not everyone is super close and … they are wearing masks,” Davis said.

Davis decided to take the vaccine for his job in addition to being able to come to the university in person. Davis noted he also took it in part to avoid having to be tested for the COVID-19 virus on a regular basis.

Currently, the university is requiring daily health screenings for students, faculty and staff prior to arriving at the university through the Fresno State Mobile App or through the Fresno State website.

Hayley Lopez, freshman biology major, shared a similarly overwhelming experience with her first semester on the Fresno State campus after graduating high school last year.

“I think it’s a little overwhelming because you have to be very independent … they just throw you in there and you have to figure things out on their own,” Lopez said.

The atmosphere of the university felt a bit standoffish, Lopez said, with many people not making eye contact, talking with friends and not interacting with others. 

“I think it was really nice in my class. They had interactive things so I liked that a lot, and being in groups because I don’t know anyone on campus so I feel like it’s really hard,” said Lopez

Lopez said she estimated that there were roughly 30 students in her class at the time but noted there would likely be about 300 students during lectures, according to her professor.

“The day that I went to class there was only 32 students, but he said at lectures there is a lot, like 300,” Lopez said.

Although vaccinated, Lopez said she disagreed with the vaccine requirement for entering in-person classes on the university campus. She said the language employed by the university during the vaccine rollout made it seem as if vaccination was the only way to return to campus for the fall semester.

“I don’t think the way they handled it was very good. I think they shouldn’t have made it a mandated thing. It kind of seems like they pressured us to get it even if they didn’t want to,” Lopez said.

Lopez acknowledged that students could opt out of the vaccination requirement with a medical or religious exemption; however, she questioned whether or not Fresno State would accept her request in the first place. 

As of Aug. 30, 8.47% of the student population is unvaccinated and requesting either a religious or medical exemption, Fresno State public information officer Lisa Boyles Bell said.

If given the option to take the vaccine or not, Lopez would have elected not to take the vaccine. 

“I am vaccinated. I didn’t really want to but since the school kind of made it a mandated thing I got it … The vaccine is just an immune booster so you can still COVID regardless. So I don’t think it is necessary,” Lopez said.

At this time, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that “vaccines continue to be highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death, including against this variant.”

For others, the COVID-19 vaccination process took an even more personal toll. Kaitlyn Escutia, a third-year agricultural science and education major, lost her grandfather during the previous semester.

“One you lose someone with COVID your world changes. This past semester I lost my grandpa and that made me fail a lot of classes so that really took a toll on me,” said Escutia.

She said the issue of whether or not to take the vaccine affects everyone and not just the individual, which is something she felt many people lose sight of. 

“It’s not just you, you have to think about everyone around you. Your lab partner, your study buddies and your professors,” Escutia said.

Escutia said that she believes the university is doing a good job in ensuring the health of students when coming back on campus, and attributes vaccine hesitancy not to the fear of the virus itself but rather the political polarization of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Registering for kindergarten, you had to have your vaccines. Every year you had to have your vaccine, you didn’t have a choice,” Escutia said.

“I feel they don’t want to get the vaccine because of political issues. I feel like it’s not just because of COVID. All I can say is hope no one dies in your family that you are really close to. Once that happens, I feel like people will change,” Escutia said.