By Gabriela Flores
When CUNY announced its 70% in-person course capacity for this spring, the policy was met with mixed reactions. Backdropped by surging Omicron cases, the decision’s announcement prompted many students university-wide to form Pro-Student CUNY, an organization that demands administrators to include student input on COVID-related policies.
“They are making unilateral decisions without the biggest stakeholders, which are the students, and it affects us the most,” Genesis Mattey, a John Jay student who forms part of the coalition, told the Vanguard.
The policy was first announced in December 2021 with CUNY continuing limited online courses and vaccine mandates for all students on campus who did not have approved exemptions. For students juggling employment, caregiving, parenting, and other personal responsibilities, the policy’s move to more in-person classes presented restrictions on their education, many Pro-Student CUNY members argue.
“So moving towards more flexibility, not taking away from traditional in-class, in-person learning, but giving that opportunity for students to learn online, is one of our core tenets and what we’re fighting for because we’re so unheard,” said Mattey, who noted she was able to begin pursuing her master’s degree with online classes while caring for her terminally-ill father.
Less online courses also meant fewer classes for unvaccinated students without approved medical or religious exceptions. Some Pro-Student CUNY members were personally affected by the university’s vaccine mandate which considers limited reasons for non-vaccination, including a documented anaphylactic allergic reaction or allergy to a component in the COVID vaccine.
“From my personal experience when it comes to medical exemptions […] CUNY definitely needs to reconsider its considerations, along with the state of New York, along with the federal government,” said Austin Dragoş, the president of BC’s Student Organization for Every Disability United for Progress. “Because it seems that whatever the federal government and the state government are doing, it seems like CUNY tags along with them.”
Dragoş was medically advised to receive a World Health Organization-approved vaccine rather than the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson jabs that were approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To allow students, faculty, and staff to share their concerns about CUNY’s 70% in-person course policy, Pro-Student CUNY members recently hosted town halls. One of the common issues attending students voiced included the lack of social distancing in classrooms with some courses being filled over capacity.
Many members of Pro-Student CUNY argue that with the inclusion of more online accommodation and course offerings, the university can better observe pandemic protocols, minimize potential outbreaks, and protect immunocompromised and unvaccinated people on campus.
However, with the recent mask mandate lift announced by Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez on Mar. 4, concerns over safety against COVID have only grown among Pro-Student activists.
“My question is, how are you going to contain [it] if there’s a COVID outbreak? What measures are you going to implement for the safety of not only the students but as well as our staff, our faculty, everybody who goes to the school,” said Jennifer Reyes, an unvaccinated John Jay student who was not granted a medical exemption despite being recommended by her medic to not receive the COVID-shot. “These are things we need to analyze and look at and make sure that we guarantee some type of security measure to make everything safe for all,” she said.
For others, CUNY’s mask mandate lift is too soon, though it follows suit with New York’s removal of mandatory mask use in most indoor venues and public schools since last Monday, Mar. 7.
“[…] The Chancellor needs to slow down and see how everyone feels about the mask mandate before lifting the mask mandate,” said Saaif Alam, a John Jay student and the University Student Senate Vice Chair for Disability Affairs. “He’s just doing what he’s being told, but I think as a university, he has sort of his own discretion to keep on the mandates.”
Since forming their group, Pro-Student CUNY members have relayed the demand for more accreditation of online courses and other concerns to Chancellor Matos Rodríguez. Many who form part of Pro-Student CUNY argue that if fewer online accommodations are made for future semesters, the university’s student enrollment will likely continue dropping, as some might remain unvaccinated or face personal struggles that would prevent them from setting foot on campus.
“Communication is key, there needs to be an understanding, our voices need to be heard,” said Reyes. “If communication fails, then CUNY will fail us as students. And students will not be able to prosper in a CUNY setting, and that’s why they’re leaving CUNY.”
Though there are currently no student representatives sitting in on COVID-related policy discussions with CUNY Central and the Board of Trustees, the university’s deciding body, some Pro-Student CUNY members intend to have a meeting with CUNY’s Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. Members will also continue hosting town halls monthly, with the following scheduled for Apr. 7.