‘Everyone just kind of disappeared’

Dan Mahony is one of about 140 students who remain on the University of Illinois Springfield campus after the school announced that the rest of the semester will be taught online amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mahony couldn’t go home even if he wanted because his home is Brockham, England, which the United States banned all travel to and from last week to curb the spread of the virus. As a member of the UIS soccer team, however, he didn’t expect to go home anytime soon.

“I was prepared to be here until May and I was actually planning on playing in a summer league, so I wasn’t expecting to go home for quite awhile,” Mahony said. “It’s not too bad. It’s quite easy to stay connected with your family through group chats or video calls.”

UIS Chancellor Susan Koch said students were not required to go home, but were encouraged to. She said students who needed to stay could submit a request. “That includes a lot of international students, not all, but a lot, but it also includes some domestic students – maybe from Illinois, maybe from someplace else – who for whatever reason simply don’t have another option.”

While food, health and counseling services remain open at UIS, Mahony described campus as a “ghost town.” “It’s pretty weird,” he said. “There’s no cars in the parking lot, no one’s walking around, you don’t hear music coming from anywhere, so it’s strange. I don’t know how really to describe it, it felt a bit like living in a movie how everyone just kind of disappeared.”

Mahony has spent most of his time playing video games online with friends and watching movies.

UIS soccer strength and conditioning coaches also gave the team bodyweight exercises to do at home to stay in shape. He also noted that the practice fields aren’t closing and is taking advantage of that. 

However, as classes resumed Monday, he’s trying to shift the focus back to school. He was already enrolled in one online class, as he prefers in-person classes because he thinks it’s easier to get more out of it, but he understands the reality that everyone must adjust to. “It’s hard to stay disciplined,” Mahony said. “It feels like you have a lot of free time because there’s nothing scheduled, but then really you do have to get stuff done and otherwise it will just build up.”

Some professors may not be fully confident in using technology to continue courses, but Koch said the decision to extend spring break for a week was to make sure professors were equipped and ready to implement e-learning. “Regardless of the level of digital skill of any faculty member, one thing they all have in common is that they want their students to be successful and they really want our students to successfully complete the semester,” Koch said.

One of the first things he noticed was how well UIS was communicating with students about the coronavirus.

The university sent email updates after the first case was reported in Illinois in January, despite no confirmed cases spreading to Sangamon County until mid-March. Koch said communication with students, faculty and staff has been one of the top priorities. “We are working on that literally every day making sure people know what they need to know not only about the virus itself and the spread of the virus in Sangamon County and in Illinois, but also about what decisions are being made at the campus level that affects their lives,” Koch said.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on March 25, 2020.

Read the entire article online.

Census efforts also challenged by COVID-19

Like so many other things, the regular collection of census information for the once-in-10-year national count has been made more difficult because of the fight against the spread of COVID-19.

Some deadlines have changed, but because so much rides on the count – including federal reimbursements to cities – state and local officials are still working to make sure people get counted.

“It is extremely important that everyone knows how important it is to get counted in the 2020 Census,” said Patrick Laughlin, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Human Services, which is helping promote the federal census. “Completing the census will ensure that Illinoisans get both representation and federal funding for the critical things like roads, hospitals, schools and fire stations.

At the University of Illinois Springfield, classes are being taught remotely, but many students are no longer in the campus dorms, townhouses or apartments. UIS will include those students in the count they provide to the Census Bureau, UIS spokesman Derek Schnapp said. And students are being told that even if they are off campus on the official Census Day, April 1 – they should report their residence as where they live and sleep most of the time - at school.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on March 24, 2020.

Read the entire article online.

Women's Softball: UIS softball team’s lone senior, Bree Derhake, copes with shortened season

Initial reports that the softball season was likely going to be suspended descended on University of Illinois Springfield senior shortstop Bree Derhake amid her at-bat during practice on Thursday.

The NCAA announced that day it had indeed canceled its spring championship tournaments, and it was only the beginning as the coronavirus pandemic engulfed the United States.

UIS softball coach Shannon Guthrie summoned a team meeting after Thursday’s practice to prepare the players for the worst — and hope for the best. Derhake, the team’s lone senior, did her best to put on a brave face, but that was dispelled by the magnitude of the moment.

“I wanted to stay strong for my teammates because they’re also losing a season, but I couldn’t hold it in. I cried a lot,” Derhake said. “It was really hard, but my teammates had my back. We had an emotional talk in the locker room, and I looked at Shannon and I was like, ‘Can I just get my (Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season) championship ring from my sophomore year before we leave the school year?’

Shannon went and got my ring for me, and I’m the first person to have it on our team since we won the GLVC championship in 2018. That was a touching moment. It meant so much.”

The Great Lakes Valley Conference suspended all spring sports activities until April 6 and canceled its remaining conference tournaments the following day. That includes UIS’ baseball team and its track and field program. Both the baseball and softball teams were coming off consecutive postseasons in the NCAA Division II tournament. Even if the softball team gets to resume its season after April 6, only 12 games remain on the schedule.

“It was good to do it in person,” Guthrie said of the fateful Thursday meeting with the team. “It’s really hard. No one’s ever been through anything like this before, and there aren’t any right words or anything. We just felt the important part was to be together and make sure that we were there for Bree, our one senior. It’s really about her at that point and making sure she knows that everyone is there for her still. None of us would wish that upon anyone, to have their senior season end like that. To be honest, I think they’re handling it as well as anyone could hope. I know it’s heartbreaking.” 

If there are any positives to glean from her experience, she has received considerable support from the Springfield softball community.

Derhake also said her life isn’t going to be solely defined by softball. While she may have had a chance to return to UIS for one more season, she had already decided to pursue a doctorate degree in physical therapy starting this June at Northern Illinois University.

This article appeared in The State Journal Register on March 17, 2020.

Read the entire article online.