A jogger runs at the University of California Riverside campus on April 7, 2021. | Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images As colleges begin to recover from the pandemic, it’s starting to seem like — for the wealthiest of them — austerity measures weren’t worth it. Jesse Hernandez, a senior cook at the University of California Riverside, started hearing rumors that layoffs were coming for the residence hall and dining staff just weeks after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last March. For a while, it seemed all talk.