The University of Wyoming's spring semester started last week, drawing back students from across the state, country and world as the pandemic continues.
UW's mask mandate is still in place, but university administrators announced this month that they were shifting from a strategy of "containment" to one of "management" as the highly transmissible omicron variant inevitably spreads through the campus community .
Omicron is less virulent than earlier variants, but given how easily omicron spreads, public health officials warn that the coming spike could be Wyoming's worst yet in terms of hospitalizations .
But life in Laramie, Wyoming's only university town, continues apace. On campus, students are back in classrooms.
The testing center in Crane Hall at the start of the spring semester is almost empty. While the University of Wyoming abandoned earlier plans to test all returning students, it is still conducting regular, mandatory testing — requiring a random sample of three percent of the campus community to test each week. Faculty members (left to right) John Benedik, Bill McCleary and Peter Wolfinbarger at the north side Crane Hall loading dock hand out COVID supplies to departments. "We are handing out one box per department, because we have a limited supply of masks (KN95),” Wolfinbarger said. The University is distributing KN95 masks and other COVID supplies to faculty, staff members and department representatives every Monday at 10 a.m. A student grabs a cloth mask from a dispensary in the Wyoming Union. Students walk past Prexy’s Pasture on the first day of the spring semester. Instructor Shane Epping teaches an in-person class. In-person classes are more common this semester; retaining in-person instruction has been a priority for university officials. Kally Knutson completes classwork in her room after working in the campus bookstore or most of the day. Resident assistants (left to right) Corinne Komlodi, Pearlene Keller and Joshua Stowe. All Resident assistants and students living in resident halls are required to wear masks, however many residents choose to not wear masks. “It’s not necessarily about omicron, it's mostly about a lot of people in the dorms who don't wear masks,” Stowe said. “We should be getting KN95 masks here soon and once we do, residents will be able to ask for them at the front desk,” Keller said. Share