Here they come. Some with masks. Some attending classes for the first time since early spring. Others getting a taste of college life as true freshmen. The students are back at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College for the opening day of the fall semester on Aug. 12.

“There’s nothing like the excitement of the first day of fall classes,” Dr. David Bridges, opening his record-setting 15th fall term as the ABAC President, said. “Seeing the seniors, some of them only months away from graduation, and watching the freshmen as they find their way around campus. I love having the students back.”

ABAC and the other 25 colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia (USG) delivered on-line instruction for the final weeks of the spring semester and the entirety of the summer term because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, nearly 4,000 students attending ABAC classes this fall semester in Tifton, Moultrie, Bainbridge, Blakely, and Donalsonville have not been inside a classroom since March 13.

“There’s nothing normal about the classrooms they are returning to,” Bridges said. “Masks, social distancing, and many hand sanitizer stations give the ABAC campus a whole new look.”

Social distancing extends to apartment-style student housing at ABAC Place and ABAC Lakeside.  For the first time, every student living on campus has a private bedroom, limiting the housing capacity to 1,200 students.  Rental property in Tifton is a hot commodity as a result.

ABAC students will see a compact calendar for the fall term because of the pandemic. Classes will end Nov. 19, and all final examinations will be over by Nov. 24. When the students go home for the Thanksgiving holidays, they will not return until just prior to the start of the spring semester on Jan. 11, 2021.

“Our primary concern was students going home for Thanksgiving and then coming back with the virus,” Bridges said. “Those extra weeks will give us time to thoroughly clean classrooms, the residence halls, and the dining hall.”

A glistening addition to the ABAC campus for the fall term is the new fine arts building, located on ABAC Circle on the front of the campus. Dr. Susan Roe, Fine Arts Department Head, said, “It is beyond a dream come true. Even COVID-19 will not keep ABAC down.”

As a part of a $21.4 million project, the Carlton Center in the center of campus also received extensive rehabilitation. The campus bookstore, The Stallion Shop, is moving to the Carlton Center which will also be home to the Baldwin Library and many other facets of the campus including the television studio and radio station.

More ABAC students will be enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs this fall than ever before. In the fall of 2019, Bridges said 55 per cent of the students were pursuing four-year degrees. He expects that figure to rise.

“Bachelor’s degrees are the lifeblood of this campus,” Bridges said. “We offered only two-year degrees for 75 years, and we still have some outstanding students seeking associate degrees, particularly in nursing. But the future of ABAC rests on the shoulders of those students who will be with us for four years or more.”

ABAC enrolled 3,923 students from 23 countries, 21 states, and 156 of Georgia’s 159 counties in the 2019 fall semester. That was the second largest number of students in the history of ABAC. Bridges hopes for an even higher enrollment this fall.

“It will take a while for all the numbers to settle but our primary concern is that every ABAC student gets a quality education at an affordable price,” Bridges said. “Our goal is to prepare these students for life.”