Spring Semester 2021: Pandemic-Era Berkeley In 40 Photos

Berkeley CA

01 March, 2021

10:03 PM

Description

Press release from the University of California, Berkeley: March 1, 2021 by Gretchen Kell Next week will mark the year anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic and UC Berkeley switching to in-person instruction. Whether you're in on-campus housing this semester, living elsewhere in the Bay Area, still in your hometown or on distant shores, the Bear Territory we used to know still feels like a much-used adjective these days — remote. So, with second semester well underway, here's a peek at your campus, where we hope you'll be glad to see that signs of perseverance, resilience and newness are as prevalent at the coming of spring. Historic and charming South Hall, built in 1873 and UC Berkeley's oldest building — it's the sole survivor of the campus's original nucleus — has had its exterior restored. On a recent sunny day, it sported new roof shingles and flashing, restored wood cornices, resealed and cleaned masonry and granite, and resealed third-floor dormers and windows. Repairs also have been made to the exterior's east portico and stairs. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small) South Hall was wrapped up for repairs in July 2020, as seen in this photo. The building is a rare example, particularly on the West Coast, of the Second Empire Style, a European design that swept the country in the last half of the 1800s. (Photo by UC Berkeley Capital Strategies) The repair of South Hall's exterior was an urgent priority for the campus, in order to preserve the hall's architectural heritage — South Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 — and to avoid future costly repairs due to avoidable weather damage. This is a close-up view of the ornamental wooden cornices, with glimpses of one of the building's round oeil-de-bouef windows and the rooftop's decorative iron cresting. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)The campus has set up tents this semester in spots such as Lower Sproul Plaza for occasional outdoor instructional activites. Occupancy is limited to 12 students and one instructor. All participants must be tested weekly for COVID-19 and show proof to student health ambassadors before attending these sessions. The outdoor offerings — also in the Greek Theater, the Berkeley Haas courtyard and elsewhere — are augmenting regular remote delivery of instruction. A pilot program last fall resulted in zero positive cases of COVID-19. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)Matilde Bombardini, associate professor of business and public policy at Berkeley Haas, holds an outdoor session in late Februrary in the business school's courtyard with undergraduates in her international trade course. At the table are students Kelly Morali (left) and Dafi Siregar. (UC Berkeley photo by Hulda Nelson)Instructor Leighton Fong (center) leads a small group rehearsal in the breezeway between Morrison and Hertz halls with (clockwise from left) violinists Oliver Marcus, Margaret Cheung, Isaac Harris and Andrew Ramirez. They are students in Music 141, the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, which is a required course for music majors in the orchestra. While the main class meets virtually this academic year, the campus's outdoor pilot program allows orchestra students to rehearse in smaller groups in person. (UC Berkeley photo by Gretchen Kell) Professor Paul Fine leads students on a hike in the East Bay hills as part of Integrative Biology 198, an undergraduate in-person field seminar called California Woody Plants. Most of the students took his fall semester 2020 Ecosystems of California course that also had an in-person component. Here, Fine (right) teaches students how to identify Arctostaphylos auriculata, a species of manzanita endemic to the area. (Photo by Isaac Lichter Marck)Students on the Feb. 25 East Bay hills hike, and a dog named Rio, pause to take in the views. Fine offered this class because of the pandemic "to give students something fun and rewarding to do outside," he said. "It's a chance for us to get to know each other more and to see more Bay Area plants." (Photo by Isaac Lichter Marck) More Photos >> This press release was produced by the University of California, Berkeley. The views expressed here are the author's own.