Florida State University leadership changed course Saturday for its proposed return to campus on Monday when students claimed shortly after gunmen fired fire near the Student Union on Thursday.
On Saturday morning, the first announcement by university president Richard McCullough acknowledged the upheavals felt by the university community.
“After the tragedy that took place on April 17th, our hearts are heavy. We are grieving with family and friends who have lost a loved one,” the email said. “This has shaken us all. I want you to know. We are here for you. Classes and business operations will resume on Monday, April 21st.”
The university’s position has evolved – expressions of student confusion and often anger grows throughout the day, including the creation of petitions requesting exemptions for students.
In a video statement on Saturday afternoon, the first McCullough revealed that classes are scheduled to resume Monday, but the school will be “flexible” to those who will not return to campus any time soon. He didn’t specify how.
Then on Saturday evening, students received another email stating that the university would “resumes classes scheduled for Monday, April 21st.”
All absences next week will be exempt as they no longer have to provide justification, the email says, and while some classes have remote options, those with in-person components such as lab exams are not.
NBC News has heard from many students who said they didn’t feel safe returning to campus. Some described split door frames and broken windows in multiple university buildings left by SWAT officials in response to the shooting. Others said they couldn’t concentrate for fear of another shooting happening when they returned.
“I don’t think there’s a right class where the filming happened and we can focus,” said junior Madeline Duggar, who evacuated several doors into the building for three hours from where the shooting took place. “It’s very difficult to take the exam in the same place as you barricade the doors and make peace with God a few days before you’ve done so.”
Phoenix Echner, 20, a deputy FSU student and son-in-law for the sheriff, is currently hospitalized and is in custody in connection with a shooting that killed two staff members and injured six people.
Freshman Elizabeth Palmer said she can’t imagine her being forced to walk again, passing the Ogresby Student Union, where gunmen fired on students and staff every day.
“Most of us were physically not on the scene, but we all saw it,” Palmer said. “You can’t pass the exact area where you saw a girl lying in a pool of blood.
“I think the most stressful thing for students is the fact that everything is in the air now and that they don’t know what to do with themselves,” Palmer said.
It was incredible for senior Jacques Canty, facing original news that was expected to return to campus on Monday. He is currently waiting to hear from his professor about how to plan the final exam process with the latest guidance from the university president.
“Eight people went (to FSU). It was a normal day, just as Monday might be a normal day. They didn’t go home.
“It’s essentially my home. It’s my home and someone stepped into my home and killed people.”
