Normally, VSU’s campus is bright and bustling the week after spring break. Most students are refreshed and ready to finish out the semester.

Several students either look forward to the end-of-the-year events, finish up their registration or prepare for the spring commencement. With the front lawn sprawling with activity, most students are either enjoying the warmer weather or catching up with their friends about their spring break.

Now, nobody gets to enjoy any of that.

Since the University System of Georgia mandated that their schools transition to online learning for the rest of the semester due to the coronavirus pandemic, all spring club activities are canceled. The spring commencement is no more. Most of the residential students have been forced out of their dorms and now must take refuge in their original homes.

During this time of the day, the pedestrian mall would be filled with returning students making their way to class. The chatty atmosphere has been replaced with hollow silence.

The walkways surrounding the Odum Library are also bare, despite the library remaining open for students with a lack of internet access.

The patio area alongside the pedestrain mall is a popular place for clubs and organizations to promote their events and causes. For other students, it’s a nice area to escape from the sun and to catch up with friends.

Now it’s good resting place for students while they are clearing out their dorms for the semester.

These other rest areas by the pedestrian mall are also popular places for students to sit and rest due to the shade.

The second walkway, between West and Nevins Halls, leads directly to the front lawn. On a regular day, the front lawn is the hotbed for relaxation, conversation and sometimes big events for clubs. Today, it’s just scenery.

One of the most iconic places on the VSU campus is the center walkway with fountain acting as a centerpiece. Today, the fountain has been turned off due to minimal maintenance as a result of the restricted access to campus.

Usually, sidewalks and crosswalks are crowded and difficult to navigate due the multitude of students speed walking to class or riding their bikes. What was a 10-minute walk from the middle of the front lawn to the communications building has now been cut in half.

A huge cause for concern amongst VSU students was the parking model. The lack of convenient accessibility to adequate spaces sparked many complaints that the Student Government Association were trying most of the semester to rectify. Parking has never been easier before today.

With the final residential move out day being March 27, and the online semester starting on March 30, VSU campus will be looking like this indefinitely.

Written by Malia Thomas, Entertainment Editor. Photos by Malia Thomas.