Every once in a while, students swarm to what is known as Hampton Twitter, to express their thoughts and opinions on major announcements and news, usually regarding the university. After skimming through the emails Hampton sends for key information, tweets begin to fill the timeline with a wide array of opinions, reactions, and jokes in response to the news.
Wednesday afternoon, Hampton University sent out an email to the student body regarding the status of the spring semester. In the email, President Dr. William R. Harvey informed students of the rise of COVID cases across various college campuses and announced as a result, that Hampton will continue with virtual instruction for the spring semester, with new improvements like wellness days that were highly requested from some students.
Students who had been anticipating a statement regarding their return began to tweet their thoughts and responses along with the rest of HU Twitter. Some were upset and disappointed, while others understood the administration’s decision.
Naomi Bethel, a third-year nursing major from Philadelphia, was one of them.
“To be honest, I wasn’t shocked by the outcome. I respect it. How do they expect people to live in dorms so close together? Also, what is the point of being on campus with no events? We might as well stay home,” Bethel stated.
However, after tweeting in shock that she left campus as a sophomore and will (hopefully) be returning as a senior, she is saddened to be missing out on lifetime memories like many others in her class via Twitter.
“It is devastating because I came into college not only for a degree but that HBCU experience. I feel as though I’m losing the majority of it. I felt like I was just a freshman then boom, now I’m a senior,” Bethel said. “If we return senior year, I know it won’t be the same, but I hope we can enjoy what is left of our experience.”
Many freshmen also took to Twitter their thoughts on missing out on one of the most memorable years of their college life.
“It sucks. We missed out on major events for our senior year of high school, just to have high hopes for a freshman year of college and we didn’t even get it,” Tonei LaRoche, a first-year student expressed.
There was also a small feud between some underclassmen and upperclassmen who felt like the seniors being robbed off their last year should be ones to feel sorry for, not the freshman who still get to experience the rest of college once COVID ends.
“A lot of people are looking at freshmen like how dare they be sad, seniors are missing out on their senior year. In my eyes, why can’t we both be equally upset? Why does it have to be a competition,” LaRoche explained.
Along with students expressing their feelings, some students had some concerns regarding the lump of money Hampton received this summer for the purpose of making sure students return safely to campus with new COVID accommodations.
“Instead of arguing like birds, the real question is what exactly Hampton will be doing with all the donation funds that were supposed to be used to ensure a safe return to campus. Where are these millions of dollars going now that we will not be on campus? I’d like to know.” via @lordaleeem on Twitter.
In the past few months, Hampton has received millions of dollars from different donors like Mackenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, the government, and more.
While no statement has been made regarding these funds, a lot of students have shared over the past few months where they would like to see the money go.
“I hope that Hampton improves its campus for the better with all the money they received. I would love to see more resources given to students, more scholarship opportunities, and cleaner and safer dorms,” Naomi Bethel shared.