By Hailey MacDonald, Editor-in-Chief
On the evening of Thursday, March 25, I was added to a GroupMe chat by one of my friends. The group chat was called “We deserve to be heard.” Since then, my phone has been pinging with alerts from fellow student leaders and campus peers who have had enough. They’ve had enough of being left in the dark, enough of not having their opinions taken into consideration, and enough of being pushed to the side.
On Thursday, March 24, we, as students, decided it was our time to stand up.
Since then, this GroupMe chat has more than 100 members, and more are added every hour. As a result, a few students forefronted the composition of an email that was sent to President Johnson, Vice President Kerri Jarzabski, and Vice President Bryan Gross. The email, which was sent on Saturday morning, was a well-written depiction of their thoughts, feelings, emotions, and everything in between. This email was professional, well-researched, and intelligently written and contained input from the members of the group chat.
In my three years as a member of the Westerner and my third semester as the Editor-in-Chief, I have never been so excited to report on something. The fact that students are joining together as a stance against something they disagree with is empowering, to say the absolute least. I am proud to be a member of this student body more than ever.
The student-led protest is determined to be COVID safe, respectful, and peaceful. It is planned for Monday, March 29 to begin around 3:00 p.m. at the Rock in the middle of campus, and the walking route will be determined based on attendance to ensure social distancing. All students, as always, will be wearing masks.
The group of students also created an instagram account to raise awareness and show what they are doing. For up to date information and to see how everything is going, check it out: @wedeservetobeheard_wne.
Their page’s bio says it best: “Your voice MATTERS. We will be peacefully and respectfully protesting recent decisions in regards to graduation and covid.”
It is important to know that the Western New England University Student Handbook has a policy for this type of situation. On page 30-31, section XIII, it says the following:
“All members of the Western New England University community, including faculty, staff and students, have a right to peaceful demonstration on the campus of Western New England University. The University reserves the right, regardless of the content of the demonstration, to limit, disallow or disband a demonstration which incites immediate, violent action or represents a clear and present danger to the campus community or if for any reason of time, place, or manner of behavior, the demonstration materially disrupts class work or other University business, involves substantial disorder, or invades the rights of others.
For safety and security reasons, demonstrators may not enter campus buildings, unless they receive the permission from the Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students and the Director of University Public Safety. If granted permission to utilize a campus building for a peaceful demonstration, demonstrators may not enter or occupy rooms or offices; obstruct entry, exit, or restrict the free movement of persons; block hallways, doorways, stairs or exits of University facilities; materially interrupt or interfere with University business functions; or remain in buildings after close of normal hours of operation. Demonstrators are NEVER permitted to enter residence halls, private offices, spaces where classes are being held or immediately scheduled to be held, libraries, or facilities that contain research materials, private collections, and/or sensitive materials.”
Therefore, it is completely included in our rights as students and American citizens to peacefully gather and allow our voices to be heard.
Students will be wearing red during the protest in order to show that they “want the administration to stop leaving students in the fark about decisions and start actively involving them.”
Below are both the student-written letter that was emailed to the administration as well as the response that was received from President Johnson.
Want to be a part of the movement? Email: [email protected]
Protest Google Form
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1iW_SXYJzdFSgKhfks8oGix3DYqeNOvxYyxDqsjwlY_M/edit
Dear Western New England Administration,
One of the core messages of this school is student advocacy, the belief that it is up to the students to advocate, defend and decide for themselves. It is for that reason that we are pushing back. Every week we receive emails from the Emergency Management Response Team with decisions that directly impact the student body. Yet we, as students, have no say in those decisions. While we understand that COVID is a precarious, volatile situation, that does not mean that we should be left in the dark. Despite the length and detail of the emails, they are lacking what’s important, trust.
We do not trust the decisions being made by the EMRT. How can we? Every week we find out more people have been infected with COVID, yet we are safe? Every week they say that there are no in person transmissions, yet Richard Wagner confirmed at the town hall that they cannot prove it. If that’s the case, why bring it up? Decisions shouldn’t be made based on something that can’t be proven. Additionally, countering with the point that we are following CDC guidelines is ingenuous and frankly naive. Anyone making that case has not been in the classroom. Not only are most classrooms not set up for social distancing, but what about desks and door handles? COVID is highly contagious and can spread via door handles. Unless the administration can say with certainty that someone is cleaning the door handles in between classes, then saying that COVID can’t spread in the classroom is wrong.
In addition to saying that in-class transmissions are non-existent, the EMRT claims that random testing is letting us gauge how the university is doing as a whole, but how can we as students know that? All we get to see is that 400 students are tested and 34 have COVID (see week 2/6/21). Based on the plan in place at 2/6/21, we should have been in orange. Therefore, there must be other factors that played into the EMRT’s decision. That being said, why are those factors being hidden from the student body and greater Western New England community? We deserve a right to see the “internal factors” that the EMRT uses to make their decisions. All data should be open and fully accessible. Ideally, there shouldn’t be concerns about confidential information being spread because in order for the administration to get COVID data from testing (based on HIPAA privacy rules under COVID-19), that information must be de-identified. Therefore, there should be no problem sharing all of that data with the community. To add to that, the EMRT has talked about how beneficial it is that we are now testing all residence students weekly. While we fully support this decision, why did it take them so long to implement? As we’ve increased the number of tests, there have been a significant increase in the number of students who have tested positive. While we cannot with any degree of certainty interpret this relationship as being inherently dependent, it does raise cause for concern. More than half of our weekly positive cases (3/26/21) were from surveillance testing. These new students who are testing positive from surveillance testing were among the population before they were tested. Who’s to say that there aren’t commuters and faculty members who would test positive with random testing? It was said at the town hall, that we are not testing commuters every week because some students aren’t coming to campus at all, but that answer doesn’t make sense. Using that same logic, we can say that since some students have the vaccine and others are immune, we shouldn’t test anyone on campus. So to be logically consistent, either we should test all commuters, or we should stop testing all together. If there are other reasons not to test commuters, we should be aware of them. It doesn’t make sense to exclude them from being tested every week. Plus, there are outside families coming on campus going out on tours? If we are concerned about students going home and bringing COVID back, why are we not concerned about tours coming to campus? The current tour protocols in place are good in theory, but without testing the Student Ambassadors and Admissions Counselors every week, there is no way to know with confidence that the Ambassadors and Counselors who have tested positive from COVID haven’t gotten it or spread it at work. Some students are tested more than three times a week (student athletes) and others aren’t tested at all (commuters). Overall, we believe that the testing policies are limited and disorganized.
We bring all of this up not to berate the administration, but to showcase the student perception. To the students, it appears like the administration is not prioritizing student’s mental and physical safety. Student’s mental health is at an all-time low. While the decision to remove spring break is understandable given the situation, its benefits cannot be overstated. It gives students time to see their family, and more importantly, time to relax. Most students are not only involved in class, they have to work, are involved with clubs, have internships. All of these take up time, to the point where most students get overwhelmed by all that they have to do. Add a global pandemic, being forced to stay on campus, and not being able to see and hang out with friends, and you get students who are severely depressed and anxious. Without a break, students are being pushed to their limits. We feel that the administration is not addressing those problems. Professors are punishing students for quarantining. Despite genuine fears of COVID-19, they are taking points off for participation, if students attend class remote. Without support, students are being pushed past their breaking point.
An important point to note is that we are not voicing these concerns with direct hopes of going online, we are just voicing concerns that should be heard. We believe that it is possible to hold a graduation that not only abides by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts guidelines, but also prioritizes students’ safety.
This administration continues to claim that they are here for the students. From Bryan Gross, “As has been the case with all of our decisions to date, we prioritize the health and safety of our community members.” However, if the EMRT truly cared about our health and safety, they would not fight so hard for students to be in class, while simultaneously saying it is not safe to have graduation. Based on the new guidelines, no more than 150 persons are allowed for outdoor events, and no more than 100 persons are allowed for indoor events. Following such guidelines from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, other colleges of smaller and larger sizes have plans to host an in person graduation. There are plenty of solutions that work to compromise and keep us here.
In fact there are ways to make it safer, even safer than going to class. We raised many concerns about door handles and the fact that people are coming and going. We could split the graduation by college and last name and do separate ceremonies over the course of the day. This will split the number of people in one space significantly. In fact given that the undergraduate and graduate graduations are on different days, based on our assumption of the number of students graduating, this separation could work. In order to make this situation work, we would have to limit the graduation to just graduating seniors, but if we live streamed the stage, I think parents, friends and family will be happy to see their students walk. This would greatly reduce the number of people coming and going and potentially could have less people than some of the events on campus. Making it COVID safe. As always, please let us know if this is not an option. If we cannot afford it, or there is something that we are missing, please let us know.
It’s important to point out that we are not privy to the exact number of undergraduate and graduate students who are graduating and therefore have to make an educated guess. If we are wrong, once again, let us know.
In doing a staggered graduation, we can satisfy the guidelines but allow students the opportunity to walk. Why have we allowed on campus programming and athletics to host events that meet the Commonwealth’s guidelines, why can’t we do so for graduation?
In addition to the concerns raised in this letter, we have also attached resources and data that we used to inform our ideas. We believe that it is the administration’s duty to answer to the people. Without the students Western New England University is nothing. Our campus culture has taught us to be data driven, motivated, free thinkers. It is for those reasons that we feel an obligation to push back. We as a community feel a moral responsibility to question decisions that are not logically consistent and to speak up for those who don’t have a voice. We hope to represent professors, faculty and staff who don’t speak out for fear of losing their jobs, students who fear expulsion, and parents feeling helpless. This letter is not meant to be an attack. We are thankful for the opportunities that this school has awarded us. We understand the difficult, almost impossible situation that we are all in. There is no clear answer in the best way to move forward, such that every party involved is satisfied. However, we feel that we do not have a voice. Every week there are concerns about the lack of transparency and decision making being made by the administration as a whole, but every week we get little more than an email?
We have plans to hold a socially distant, respectful protest on Monday (3/29) at 3:00PM. We are sending you this email and letter as a courtesy. We want you to be prepared. This has been repeated numerous times, but our intention is not to attack or belittle. None of us would prefer to be in your position. That being said though, we have questions that we feel must be answered.
Please respond to this email as soon as you are able. We believe it is within our right to peacefully protest under the rules of the student handbook, but if you disagree, let us know. We are open to having a dialogue, however, if you do not address our concerns, we will exercise our rights. That’s what makes this community special, the ability to speak up for what you believe in.
Sincerely,
Rylee Plourde, Andrew Cohen, Cara O’Toole, Chloe Wood, Courtney Colaccio, Gabby Krause, Gehrig Burnett, Aurora Axiotis, Alyssa Rosado, Ana Thomas Cruz, Anthony Gelsomini, Delaney Baughman, Keeley Faughnan, Lindsey Kiltonic, Ryan Moran, Giovanna Lanciani, Justin Lanciani, Sima Bilanian, Alex Murray, and nearly 100 students who agree with our message but decided to remain anonymous
Resources:
● https://www.mass.gov/info-details/safety-standards-and-checklist-indoor-and-outdoor-events
● https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/february-2020-hipaa-and-novel-coronavirus.pdf
● https://www.pnas.org/content/118/5/e2013906118
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LkXK_Fj5ULRuKpK2LQK6JF4ecKX1margZ6jkBKwVPng/edit#gid=0
President Johnson’s Response:
Dear Andrew, Chloe, Courtney, Gabby, Gehrig, Rylee et al.,
Thank you for your email on behalf of yourselves and others regarding concerns relating to Covid-19. You are absolutely correct in saying that students’ expression of opinions are not only welcomed, but celebrated. I commend you as students of WNE to stand up and speak out for what you believe, and to engage others – including me and my Administration – in constructive dialogue about issues of concern.
Thank you for acknowledging the difficulty of managing through this Covid-19 crisis. This is true for each and every one of us, and I hear you when you say that it is particularly true for students. I recognize that the constantly changing landscape and frequent hard decisions that this Covid-19 crisis causes can result in you feeling a lack of trust in the University’s Administration. I and members of my Administration have sought to be open and transparent in our decision making, and we have worked to communicate these decisions and policies to the entire campus constituency. The Emergency Management Response Team (EMRT) and the University’s Covid-19 Advisory Team meet each week to assess conditions on the ground, both on- and off-campus. Outcomes of these meetings have been sent via email to students, faculty, and staff, and information has been posted to the University’s Covid-19 webpage that includes the Covid-19 Dashboard. In addition, communications have been facilitated through the Student Affairs Division and via the University’s social media platforms. As a result of the March 22 student town hall, we will include student participation in EMRT meetings as well as having a group of students meet with the Covid-19 Advisory Team, which I understand has already occurred with a couple students in the past to discuss topics related to the pandemic. I believe the best mechanism to obtain direct student involvement in Covid-19 management is through the Student Senate, which will be facilitated through the Student Affairs Division.
You are absolutely correct in saying that there has been an uptick in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks. We know that the key to tamping down cases and the potential for community spread is for all of us to remain vigilant around public health protocols and mitigation strategies that have been in place since the onset of this pandemic: masking, social distancing, disinfectant cleaning, restricting group gatherings, testing, contact tracing, and segregating infected individuals. Notably, in order for us to offer an on-campus experience, last summer a team led by a professor of civil and environmental engineering painstakingly analyzed every classroom to determine the social distancing capacity or SDC. If you have reason to believe that any classroom does not comport with the spacing/distancing requirements, please contact Dr. Richard Wagner, vice president for finance and administration, and chair of the EMRT ([email protected]). While housekeeping staff have been conducting cleaning and disinfectant sweeps in classroom buildings throughout the day, the standing practice and expectation is that occupants disinfect their immediate seating and desk area prior to the start of every class. Also, the University hired additional housekeeping personnel to maintain a clean and disinfected physical environment to the greatest extent possible. However, infection prevention is everyone’s responsibility to keep themselves and fellow community members safe.
You have raised many valid issues and posed excellent questions, and as you have suggested, I truly believe that these can be resolved or at least better understood through continued dialogue. I appreciate that it seems particularly incongruent that we hold face-to-face classes, yet we have decided not to hold live and in-person graduation ceremonies. This exceedingly difficult decision centered on the main difference between the two experiences, which is that commencement involves large gatherings of hundreds if not thousands of people, which the CDC pointedly recommends against. While the hope that vaccines bring an effective resolution to this pandemic crisis, we are not there yet, and we must continue to operate in an environment where there are few absolute answers to the myriad challenges of our time. To help bring greater understanding to your concerns and our insights, I have asked Vice President for Student Affairs Kerri Jarzabski ([email protected]) to engage the students in ongoing conversation about these and other concerns. Further, I would like to invite you, Chloe, Courtney, Gabby, Gehrig, and Rylee to meet tomorrow Monday, March 29th at noon in the Board of Trustees room in the University Commons with Vice President Jarzabski and me along with others from the administration. Please confirm with Robin in my office or Vice President Jarzabski if you would like to have this meeting.
Thank you again for asserting yourselves and advocating for what you believe. This is the essence of what it means to be a Golden Bear and a proud Western New England-educated student. Please do trust that no one is more disappointed for our students – “Pandemic Academic 2020-21” – than me. It has not been easy or anywhere a normal or traditional collegiate experience. At the same time, as President I am duty and honor bound to always keep the safety, health, and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, and greater University community at the forefront of each and every decision. I and my leadership team remain resolute that we will continue as we have been to be visible, available, and responsive.
The path to building and maintaining a healthy community always begins with individuals. I would like to end with a call to action for each and every member of the Golden Bear community: If you see something, say something. Mitigation is our key to a successful close to this academic year. If you see people not wearing masks and not keeping proper social distance, please do something about it. We are in the homestretch, and vigilance must be our priority.
With gratitude,
Robert E. Johnson Ph.D.
President
