Florida State has raised its class attendance mandate after students protested an order that called for students to return to class a few days later, leaving two deaths and six injuries on campus.
Students and instructors have the option to attend classes remotely starting Monday, and absences are permitted for those who choose not to attend at all. It was announced on a Saturday night.
“We want everyone to receive and receive the support they need,” FSU President Richard McCullough said in a letter to students and faculty.
“For some students who mean not going back to the classroom, the opportunity to focus on community and gathering ideas and academics may be beneficial. There’s no right answer for everyone.”
McCullough said certain courses, such as lab classes, will resume in person. However, students who feel they cannot complete the course also have the option to request incomplete grades, he added.
This decision came in response to a pushback from students. An online petition was created It is exploding the rapid return to the college’s deadly scene as both “inappropriate and insensitive” and seeking exempt absences and remote learning for those still handling traumatic events.
“It’s not okay to ask a student who has just experienced such a traumatic moment to return to where it happened immediately,” the petition, which has received 1,408 signatures.
“This can cause extreme pain and panic attacks for many people. This is a sorting of item pickup arrangements held at the very location where the FSU shooting took place, and we have already seen it happen the day after it happened,” the petition continued.
“We left school for a week due to snow. We can accommodate students who are about to lose their lives.”
The shooter, identified by police as Phoenix Eekner, has been accused of starting a deadly rampage near a campus student union building, with the tragic footage dropping multiple rounds on Thursday afternoon as a horrifying scene of massacre and panic.
Police say a 20-year-old FSU student, the son-in-law of Leon County Sheriff’s deputies, used his stepmother’s former service pistol in a fatal attack.
Two Aramark Food Service employees (57-year-old Robert Morales and 45-year-old Tilchava) were killed in a fatal attack, and six others were injured.
Police have not revealed the motives for the mass shooting.
Ichner is among those receiving treatment at local hospitals and is expected to survive.
