Penn State’s return to campus plan puts lives in danger, student group says. They want changes
The path to bringing back nearly 48,000 students and about 22,000 employees to Penn State and the broader Happy Valley community in the midst of a pandemic has been arduous.
About 30 people staged a “die-in” Monday on the Old Main lawn in protest of the university’s plan to resume in-person classes in about one month.
The demonstration — organized by the Coalition of Graduate Employees at Penn State — lasted 14 minutes, which was meant to represent the nearly 140,000 deaths attributed to the new coronavirus in the United States.
“It’s dangerous. There is no safe way that Penn State can possibly bring 40,000 to 50,000 students back to campus and not expect some kind of huge increase in death rate or infection rate,” protest organizer Bailey Campbell said. “What we’ve taken from that is that they are tacitly admitting that there is an acceptable amount of death that can be justified for a return to on-campus instruction.”
Chief among the coalition’s requests is for the university to revise its “Back to State” plans and release its emergency plans — including specific emergency thresholds for illnesses and deaths — that would prompt the university to close and shift exclusively to online learning.
About 10 people spoke or read statements from organizations, including the governing body for 37 fraternities at Penn State and the University Park Undergraduate Association.
Some chanted “Back to State, that’s not great, not with this infection rate,” while others held signs shaped like coffins that asked, “How many live$?”
“They seem to have established pretty fine guidelines for on-campus, but there’s no way that they can control or have students behave the way they want (them) to outside of campus,” Campbell said. “... Students are gonna behave like students.”
The hourlong protest also included statements from two Mount Nittany Health employees, who spoke against the company’s plan to cut 250 jobs to address an expected $70 million revenue shortfall.
Environmental services aid Chrissy Thompson and respiratory therapist Kelsye Stott — who were not speaking on behalf of the health care system — argued a staff reduction and population increase don’t mesh, while dorm rooms could be a “breeding ground” for COVID-19.
Mount Nittany Health Communications Director Nichole Monica largely avoided publicly addressing the labor dispute.
She instead said the health care system is “committed to serving our community with high-quality care” with flexible staffing plans that are responsive to community needs.
Penn State pushed back in a written statement against most of the group’s grievances.
The group’s requests have been addressed and the university can meet or exceed the state Department of Education’s health and safety guidelines for colleges and universities, spokesperson Rachel Pell wrote.
The university’s “Back to State” plans were released after three months of planning, which included input from more than 250 faculty, staff and administrators.
Faculty experts in epidemiology, infectious disease dynamics and public health established detailed monitoring, reporting and contingency planning protocols to allow the university to quickly respond, Pell wrote.
The university plans to publicly report the number tests and results on a campus-by-campus basis.
The university also collaborated with municipalities in the Centre Region and the Centre County commissioners to develop a coordinated, regional response, Pell wrote.
About 19% of the university’s classes are scheduled to be delivered entirely in-person, while about 28% are set to utilize a hybrid model that blends both online and in-person learning. About 47% of classes are set to be delivered solely online.
“Penn State is intertwined with the communities it serves across the commonwealth. These are the towns and cities that our students, faculty, staff, partners and neighbors call home,” Penn State President Eric Barron said Thursday in a written statement. “... Our community partners and stakeholders have played, and will continue to play, an important role as we collectively navigate the challenges posed by this pandemic. We learn, work and live together, and it is up to all of us as individuals and as members of our communities to take an active role in promoting health and safety.”
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 4:29 PM.