Vandal Lives Over Profits (VLOP), a student group against in-person classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, met on the Theophilus Tower Lawn with signs and a grim reaper costume Sunday evening.
The group members met on a Facebook group titled “UIdaho Memes for Socially-distanced Teens” and decided to organize the protest. Graduate student Thys Ballard, one of VLOP’s organizers, said the group also held protests on the lawn Aug. 19 and outside UI President C. Scott Green’s university house Aug. 20-23.
“We want online classes, at least for the time being,” Ballard said at the Aug. 19 protest. “I think we should be online until the pandemic is under control, personally.”
The protesters said their concerns about in-person classes include people not following COVID-19 safety protocols correctly, inefficient on-campus testing, campus becoming even more of a “petri dish” and the university prioritizing budget concerns over student, faculty and staff safety.
“I guess I get that there are budget constraints, but I’m not willing to sacrifice me or anyone else just so the university can stay solvent,” Ballard said.
While the Aug. 19 protest was small, hosted by only six people, it did not go unnoticed. Several students walking by stopped to chat with the protesters about their opinions on in-person and online classes.
Students attending the Vandal Walk and President’s Barbecue during Sunday’s protest approached Ballard and took pictures with him as he wore the grim reaper costume. VLOP members hoped students who took pictures with Ballard will help spread their message across campus.
So far, VLOP has received mostly supportive comments. Those not in favor of the group’s cause were polite about it.
“It is hard to find people who are willing to admit to supporting our cause out loud,” Chris Ward, another VLOP protester, said.
One of the protesters, graduate student Jordan Hardy, said he is teaching a math class and is required to teach with the HyFlex model this semester, rather than online like he preferred. Hardy is concerned about the mixed feedback he will be getting from students both online and in-person while he is teaching.
“I think the HyFlex is better than just everyone being there, but it’s still risky,” Hardy said. “I don’t think it’s fair for the university to force me into a position where I have students angry at me for trying to stay safe.”
Hardy said there is one way to teach an in-person class and one way to teach an online class, but teaching them together will not be a good mix. He said he thinks HyFlex is a weak model of teaching and he isn’t confident about using it in his classroom.
Even though online classes can be boring, they are better than in-person for now, Ballard said.
Many of the protesters said they seriously doubted everyone living in on-campus housing, whether they are in residence halls or Greek houses, will follow COVID-19 safety protocols perfectly.
Zach Sugano said the few times he has been on campus so far he watched large groups of people moving about, not social distancing and some not wearing face masks.
“I try to avoid going out at all, but when I do, I see people going to eat in restaurants without social distancing,” Sugano said. “I know I have several friends that continue to throw parties even while there are (city) orders telling them not to.”
Sugano said he thinks in order for people to not gather together, measures need to be taken to eliminate the reasons for people to group up. The university is doing the opposite of putting these measures in place by offering in-person classes this semester, he said.
“I think that in-person classes are a bad idea no matter what at the university, but the university’s way of doing in-person classes is especially bad,” Hardy said. “I feel like they are trying to mislead us.”
The thermal scanners are not that helpful because people are contagious with the virus before they get a fever, Hardy said. In addition, he said the current classroom seating arrangements have every other seat covered, which is not six feet apart.
“The university made lots of noise about test results being done in two days,” Hardy said. “Some have waited a week and a half to get their results.”
VLOP members want students to call for remote and online classes because they are concerned about the health of students and the broader community, especially the elderly.
“One death, in my view, is devastating and it is irresponsible of the university to expose students to the virus,” Ballard said.
Other universities around the U.S. have tried opening for the fall semester but had to close because outbreaks occurred early on.
On Aug. 17, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill moved to entirely remote instruction after more than 135 students tested positive for COVID-19 and 349 were in quarantine. On Aug. 18, the University of Notre Dame announced it would halt in-person classes for two weeks when there were 255 cases of COVID-19 on campus.
VLOP believes UI is not any different than the universities which have closed this year.
“Many people were tested two weeks ago, but they could now have (COVID-19),” Hardy said. “Other students haven’t been tested yet, so they could spread it too. It is only a matter of time before it spreads.”
UI students are not eligible to attend classes until they receive a negative COVID-19 test result or are cleared by a healthcare professional, according to the most recent Talk with Torrey. If an ineligible student shows up to class, professors are expected to subtly ask them to leave. If they do not comply, campus security may be called. Further escalation could require the involvement of the Moscow Police Department.
VLOP members are disappointed in the university shifting the responsibility of keeping campus open onto students rather than the university administration taking responsibility for it.
“The students have to take responsibility, but the University of Idaho should too,” Sugano said.
VLOP encourages students to keep their distance from each other and stay safe, but they hope the public listens to their cause as well.
“I don’t like to put myself out there or put myself in the spotlight, but if an issue is important to me, then I will,” Hardy said.
VLOP is planning future protest events, but no specific dates and times have been set yet. Although the group members hope to do protests in Friendship Square in the future.
Kim Stager and Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected]
Christian
We’ll see what happens once tuition deadline hits, then UI admin will switch back to online only. This is all for money. The name of this group is perfect. VANDAL LIVES OVER PROFIT This administration continues to disappoint.
Maddie
The University, is placing financial concerns over safety. Considering the pandemic, online courses should suffice, given the life and death scenario confronting all of us. Everyone should just suck it up until safety for all can be assured. This is no joke, people. One of our friends has died from Covid 19. He did not expect to be part of the statistics. Although there are zero deaths in Latah County, the number of cases is exponentially increasing. The past three weeks, the number of cases has nearly tripled. Let’s be clear; Black lives matter, Vandals lives matter, all of our lives matter. The University and all of us, need to do the right thing, the moral and caring thing. We need to do all that we can to save lives. Why is this even an issue? Shouldn’t we all be doing all that we can to save each other’s lives? Shouldn’t we?
Amy
Thank you for a well done article!