In the Spring, students bumped shoulders. They shared drinks and held hands, and no one wore masks. The reality in Fall will be much different.
On-campus events have been re-thought to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Here’s what students can expect.
What are the restrictions?
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, UF’s Campus Events and Gathering Policies have outlined the new way events on campus will be conducted. A maximum of 50 people may attend indoor events in the Fall, and outdoor events are limited to 250 people, said Eddie Daniels, Assistant Vice President for UF Business Services.
Event participants will be required to stand six feet apart and wear masks, he said. He did not specify how this will be enforced.
The policies, which follow CDC and state COVID-19 safety guidelines, were written as a result of Florida’s recent surge in COVID-19 cases, said Brian Jose, Director of UF Performing Arts and member of UF’s Event Safety Sub-Group.
The Campus Events and Gathering Policies will adapt to information released by the state and CDC regarding COVID-19, he said. The policy could change in the fall, according to Jose.
UF’s Event Safety Sub Group wrote the policies. The sub-group is a part of the Safe Campus Framework Group, a task force composed of UF Health representatives, the President’s Cabinet and academic leaders that has been developing some of UF’s reopening policies, UF spokesperson Steve Orlando wrote in an email to The Alligator.
Event organizers are required to communicate with attendees by gathering contact information at least a month prior to the event and emphasizing social distancing, according to the document. Orlando wrote that event organizers will be in charge of monitoring and enforcing social distancing at their events and gatherings.
Event participants without a mask should be asked to put one on or to leave the area by organizers, he wrote.
Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
Venues like the Phillips Center will operate at a maximum of 50 percent capacity, Jose said. The Phillips Center, which has a total of 1,750 seats, has 425 seats available following the new guidelines, Jose said.
Event organizers are also recommended to use “technology options such as web conferencing including video meetings and webinars, or live streaming events” according to the document.
The Phillips Center has installed new cameras for a total of $38,850 to livestream performances, Jose wrote in an email to The Alligator. The money was funded by 44 donors and the Provost to help fund UF’s Performing Arts Live Streaming Initiative, he wrote.
When asked if he anticipated the reduced seating capacity to be a problem, Jose said no because The Phillips Center will not be renting out the venue until after July 31 or hosting any events this summer, he said.
O’Connell Center
The Stephen O’Connell Center will have less than 5,000 out of about 10,000 seats available following the document’s release, Stephen O’Connell’s Senior Director Lynda Reinhart wrote in an email to The Alligator.
The venue is planning to host events in the Fall after assessing the expected attendance for each event, she wrote. The venue is still determining specific details such as how to enforce social distancing and how Fall sporting events will be conducted, she wrote.
RecSports and Athletics
RecSports and UF’s University Athletics Association are subject to the same policies when hosting gatherings and events, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs and member of the Event Safety Sub-Group Nancy Chrystal-Green wrote in an email to The Alligator.
While intramural sports and regular gym operations will follow Recsports’ regulations, other events held like Recstravangza, a Fall event where students learn about intramural sports and RecSports, will follow The Campus Event and Gathering Policies, said David Bowles, Senior Director for Recreational Sports.
Recsports will also not be renting out their facilities in the Summer or Fall because the organization wants to keep the area open only to students, he said.
UF’s University Athletics Association will not be hosting non-athletic events like weddings at their facilities, Steve McClain, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications, wrote in an email to The Alligator.
The association will make decisions regarding their Fall sports, which include football, soccer, volleyball and cross country, in August, he wrote.
Other events
Islam On Campus opted in June to move Fast-A-Thon from October to Spring 2021 because the organization wanted more time to plan the event, said Yasin Adam, a 20-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology junior and Islam On Campus Vice President External.
Fast-A-Thon will have to reevaluate the number of participants at each table following UF’s Campus Event and Gathering Policies, he said.
However, Islam On Campus officers haven’t started planning the event, said Hajra Saaed, 21-year-old UF biomedical engineering senior and Islam On Campus treasurer. They will begin planning the event in October, she said.
Dance Marathon and Hispanic Heritage Month officials declined to comment. The executive director of ACCENT did not respond to The Alligator’s emails.
Sofia Echeverry, an 18-year-old UF linguistics freshman, said she was looking forward to attending campus events like Hispanic Heritage Month this Fall. She was looking forward to networking and getting to meet her fellow classmates.
Echeverry attended Preview Orientation through Zoom after COVID-19 safety precautions moved it online, she said. She said only spoke when necessary because she didn’t want to be overbearing.
The experience was awkward and made it difficult for her to connect with her classmates, she said. With the Campus Event and Gathering policies in place, she said she feels like she won’t have a real freshman experience or get to connect with other students in the Fall.
“It is upsetting and a little frustrating that I won’t be able to take part in all of these events,” she said.
