Some professors and staff members say they no longer trust university leaders to have their best interests at heart, citing on-campus work requirements that feel dangerous with Delta’s spike, or pointless after remote work has proved feasible. Last year, Shepherd worked on campus, but with fewer students there. South Carolina’s response to the pandemic was one of the factors that sped up the retirement of Jeri O. Cabot, the former dean of students and associate vice president for student affairs at the College of Charleston.