BATON ROUGE - The first day of Fall Semester begins at Southern University Monday.

As students navigate Day One of this semester's classes, university officials continue to lead vaccination efforts.

Since the start of the pandemic, Southern University has played a major role in ensuring that all in the Baton Rouge area have access to COVID testing and vaccinations.

Monday's vaccination event, held at the university's Nursing School, is the most recent of such efforts.

Made possible by a partnership with CareSouth, event organizers aim to vaccinate as many Southern University employees as possible.

The vaccines would be one way to keep everyone on campus protected amid the COVID-19 health crisis.

Another source of protection comes in the form of masks, which all on campus are required to wear.

Though returning to campus for classes is a bit different during the COVID-19 era, the changes have not appeared to dampened the majority of the student's enthusiasm.

Faith Mayfield is a Southern student who serves as an Orientation Leader, meaning she's tasked with welcoming new students to campus.

During a Monday morning interview with WBRZ's Dana DiPiazza, Mayfield expressed enthusiasm about the upcoming semester, "We're excited to have all the students back on campus... we have a lot of fun plans."

Mayfield was one of many Southern students who had to move out of their on-campus homes last year due to a spike in COVID cases.

Mayfield recalled that difficult time, saying she received an email in the middle of the night instructing her to move out. She said it all happened very quickly, and she and other students who were impacted did their best to make it work. 

But as a new semester begins, Mayfield and a number of her fellow students are looking to the future with optimism, eager to see what Fall has in store at Southern University.