My experience with COVID-19 in class seemed to be rather slow which warranted skipping the second week of classes.
Parking continues to be very open during the morning, though I have noticed an increasing amount as we continue into the semester. The Student Union's cafeteria seems to be growing in participants as it was difficult to grab a seat to talk to a graduate classmate about readings.
Dr. Murphree informed me that there was an incident with faculty having conducted class without facial masks and even ate lunch with the students of their class. This was rather alarming as this could spread the infection of COVID within the University of Central Florida. It was surprising that the faculty were the source of the problem. I initially assumed that students would have an issue with the masks, yet I was proven wrong this week. There was some discussions on the UCF reddit that speculated on who. I remember reading that it could be from the Education Department which I was skeptical. It is important to continue adhering to the university's response to COVID-19.
Another instance this week saw UCF students protesting over a political speaker coming to campus. The speaker was a Kent State graduate, Kaitlin Bennett attending campus to "ask students who would be a better president for black Americans, Trump or Biden?"(1) Students were quick to protest her attendance due to her lack of a mask. Much like the faculty not following regulations, UCF students are very adamant, rightfully so, to protect their community from the virus being spread. I do believe that her attendance was going to be negatively received as she has multiple different controversial ideologies. My worry with the protests against Bennett is the high amount of people within a section of campus. Videos from Twitter show groups of people not social distancing and being next to one another. UCF police were quick to try and calm the situation, yet it seemed that Ms. Bennett was more concerned about her rights than the potential spread of COVID-19. It is important that the University's statement identified her as not adhering to the policies for COVID-19, not her right to speak.
This week's theme seems to be optimism for students to be very strict on following proper procedures. The faculty and outsiders are not limited in students advocating for wearing masks and following the rules set by the university.
It is my opinion that we can count on students to report instances of people not practicing hygienic practices within the pandemic.
1. https://twitter.com/KaitMarieox/status/1304145390724419591
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