With students' opposition building, partly in the form of an online petition, Florida State University dropped its requirement for them to return to classrooms on Monday—four days after a fatal mass shooting on campus. University President Richard McCullough's message Saturday morning acknowledged the grieving, NBC News reports. "This has shaken all of us," he wrote, "and I want you to know: We are here for you. Classes and business operations will resume Monday, April 21." In a video statement hours later, McCullough said the school would "be flexible" in accommodating students who didn't want to come back to campus yet but didn't specify how.
Some students said they wouldn't feel safe on campus, pointing out that SWAT officers responding to the shooting left behind splintered doorframes and broken windows in several buildings on campus. Others said they were traumatized. "I can't walk past the exact area where I saw a girl laying in a pool of blood," a freshman said. A junior who sheltered for three hours in a building near the shooting said, "It is very difficult to focus and take exams in the same places where days before you were barricading the door and making your peace with God." On Saturday night, McCullough revised his message again.
"We want everyone to receive the support and help they need. For some students that may mean not going back into the classroom. For others, the idea of community and gathering, as well as the opportunity to focus on academics, may be beneficial," McCullough posted, per ABC News. Students and instructors will be allowed to hold classes remotely or in person, per the AP. All mandatory attendance policies that could affect grades are waived. Students who believe they're unable to complete a course can request a grade of incomplete. (More mass shootings stories.)
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