Dear Administration, this letter is on behalf of countless students I have personally had conversations with.
This is a direct quote from the office of campus safety webpage concerning cancellations:
“Campus operations are likely to proceed like any other work/school day if:
- Weather conditions are reasonable
- Community roads can be navigated
- The University can effectively maintain campus roads, sidewalks and building entrances”
As many of us saw on Monday and for the past week, the required conditions for a school closure were met, and yet campus operations still proceeded. The feel-like temperature as I walked to class one day last week was 17 below zero Fahrenheit. Today, the sidewalks were left unshoveled, and in some spots, students had to trudge through a foot of snow to make it to class. Every school and college around us canceled or moved their classes online today. Does the administration have no idea what is happening on campus? Do they not have genuine care for their students and staff?
We do not want another email from the administration telling us to be safe and dress warm. We want the administration to take action and responsibility for the students and staff they claim to care for. A safety email does not keep us warm in temperatures below zero, nor does it keep us safe as we travel in hazardous weather conditions. A safety email does not help cars have grip on horrible road conditions. Neither does it help students not slip and fall on hazardous sidewalk conditions. Not to mention that students had earlier class times at 8:10 a.m., but the groundskeepers did not start plowing sidewalks until much later in the day. Inconsistent shoveling and sanding have been an issue on campus every winter. Telling us to be safe while ignoring the power you have as administrators to truly keep us safe is like telling a kid not to burn themselves but letting them play with fire. It’s bound to happen eventually.
This letter is a plea from students on this campus who are fed up with the clear negligence for student and staff safety we see from the administration. Will it really, God forbid, take a student or staff member slipping and falling and breaking a bone, or hitting their head on the pavement, or crashing their car, for administration to take action? We all went through COVID and learned how to use Zoom, and we have all at some point had a class on Zoom. At the bare minimum, in awful weather conditions, moving classes to Zoom is an alternative where students and staff can stay safe and warm and still learn.
Please, please, please, listen to your students and take action. You, as administrators, were hired and given the position you are in in order to make decisions on behalf of the entire school. Take responsibility, respect, and honor the God-given position you are in by taking care of those you claim to have responsibility over. Yes, most of us are adults and are old enough to make decisions regarding our own safety, but our parents have sent us here, putting trust and believing that you, as administrators, will take care of and do right by your students and their children.
Joseph Piresson II (senior, health science) is a current student at Andrews University. The letter was submitted before morning classes were moved online on Tuesday.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.