Dear University of Southern California Administration,
As we welcome the incoming class of 2025, we are all grateful that we have the opportunity to return to campus in a safe and healthy manner. With that being said, socializing, interacting with our peers, and making meaningful connections with our fellow students is vital in fostering our USC experience. After 18 months of isolation due to COVID-19, students are eager to: greet their neighbors, make lifelong friendships, and network within the USC community. We understand that certain visitation policies are implemented for the safety of our students and staff. However we urge you to reconsider the policy regarding visitation within the USC residence halls.
Creating safe environments for students to socialize with their peers will ultimately allow students to thrive both inside and outside of the classroom. Over the past few weeks we have been meeting, mingling, and getting to know students from all over the world; however, the current residence policy is prohibiting us from forming and solidifying meaningful friendships with those outside of our own residence halls. This is leading to exclusion, isolation, and disconnect among us students. As a result, students are gathering in unsafe environments in order to comply with the USC guidelines.
USC students already gather in our crowded dining halls maskless, attend convocation with over 16,000 guests, and come in close contact with each other during school sanctioned events such as: dances, concerts, and sporting events. With preventative measures already in place -- Trojan checks, Student ID cards, vaccinations, and weekly testing -- we are asking that residents be allowed to have USC student visitors from other residential halls in their rooms. In an attempt to regain a sense of normalcy we ask that students are granted permission to visit other residence halls.
