Students ask OU to go virtual
NORMAN — Doran Walters has been at the University of Oklahoma for less than a month, but students, particularly those without face coverings, are already acquainted with her.
The journalism and psychology freshman has been shouting at her bare- faced peers to put on a mask while they walk to class. Walters, who has a chronic illness and a disability, is afraid of the consequences if they don't.
“Right now, I'm tired and I'm angry because people won't do the bare minimum,” Walters said. “I'm loud and obnoxious, but at night I go back to my room and cry because I'm so scared.”
Walters said she had looked forward to college her whole life, hoping to find a place where she finally fit in. She enjoyed her first few weeks in Norman, but her college experience hasn't been ideal, she said.
Within the first week of the semester, one of Walters' classmates tested positive for COVID-19. Although she
wasn't exposed, she wonders whether it's safe to stay.
“I'm not immunosuppressed, but whenever I get sick, I get really sick because my chronic illness worsens a lot,” Walters said. “So, if I get sick, will I be able to get home? And if I get (COVID19), will I be able to stay in school afterwards?”
Walters was one of 15 students who protested outside the OU administration building on Thursday. The group read a list of demands and pleaded that the university immediately move the majority of courses online, excluding experience- and equipment-reliant courses that cannot be recreated virtually.
Staff members at the Norman campus hosted a similar protest Aug. 10, as they urged OU not to reopen in person to prevent further spread of COVID-19.
Face- to- face classes began as scheduled on Aug. 24. Sections with fewer than 40 students will continue in person, comprising 86% of all OU courses.
Administrators have said cuts to employee wages and positions would have been unavoidable if the university didn't reopen for in-person classes.
OU has invested millions to prepare its campuses for a traditional return with frequent cleaning and disinfecting of public spaces, bathrooms and dorm rooms. The university offers oncampus COVID-19 tests and will begin testing wastewater
for early detection of the coronavirus.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, OU has made safety its top priority, enacting a range of protocols designed to create a safe environment,” a university spokeswoman wrote in an emailed statement. “All decisions made are sciencebased and under the primary guidance of our OU Chief COVID Officer, Dr. Dale Bratzler. As we have since March, we will prioritize safety, remain responsive to the changing landscape, and communicate often with the OU community.”
Students protesting on Thursday said the university's efforts still fall short. Some said they regularly see other students disobeying requirements for mask wearing and social distancing. Walters said she'd like OU to enforce these rules more strictly.
Protesters said OU prioritized profit over safety by reopening while COVID-19 rates are high in Oklahoma.
White House reports have classified Oklahoma in the “red zone” for new cases per capita. More than 60,000 Oklahomans have contracted COVID-19, and more than 800 have died from the disease.
“We are not students to them, not students with families and friends, goals and ambitions,” said Kathryn Powers, a sophomore. “We are numbers on a page. We are zeros in their bank account.”
Should the university move online, protesters urged OU to protect all employees earning less than $ 49,100 a year from furloughs and layoffs, including part-time,
temporary and contract employees. They proposed a tiered structure for pay cuts that starts with OU's highest earners.
The university retained all full- time employees after its campuses closed in the spring, though many parttime and student workers lost their jobs. Keeping all full- time staff would be impossible if OU shut down again, according to a university statement.
“While President (Joseph) Harroz has indicated that those in executive roles and the highest-paid positions would be among the first to take pay cuts, this would not be enough to avoid necessary furloughs and layoffs for those whose positions are not necessary in an online-only environment,” administrators said in a statement Aug. 10.
Protesting students demanded OU use its billiondollar endowment to pay salaries. On-campus essential workers should earn 1.5 times their wages, and student workers who lost their jobs because of the pandemic should come back to work or have tuition and fees waived, they said.
Jake Allen, a sophomore drama major and student-worker, said these employees rely on their jobs to meet basic needs for food and medical care.
“Workers who keep this university running are already concerned about their health as they are forced to work through a pandemic,” Allen said. “There is no reason to add worries about losing job security and losing health insurance and not making enough to pay for medical treatment if they do get sick.”