Safety

The health and safety of the UVA community should be the administration’s number one priority.

Recently, Jim Ryan and 13 other university presidents met with Vice President Mike Pence to lobby for reduced liability if students, and workers get sick or die on campus in the fall. We won’t let the university escape responsibility, we want guarantees on free testing and equipment, and we want no financial cost to those who do get sick because of the university’s decision to return to campus.

With students returning in the fall, the only way to prevent the spread of Covid-19 is to ensure all members of the UVA community have access to PPE, as well as to testing and treatment for Covid-19.

The pandemic has jeopardized the economic security of students and workers alike. If testing, treatment, and PPE were unavailable to those who could not afford them, it would threaten the health of the entire UVA community.

We need these protections to cover the whole Charlottesville community because this virus affects the whole community. Ignoring support for the Charlottesville community in the form of PPE, testing, and treatment would only further entrench UVA’s long history of predatory, and racist relationship Charlottesville.

The pandemic has increased the social, academic, and financial strain on many students. Moreover, there are students grieving the loss of friends and family members to Covid-19. As a result, the pandemic has been detrimental to the mental health of many.

CAPS should be expanded such that students no longer have a 6 session limit on counseling sessions

It is essential for students, workers, and community members health and wellbeing; that the University is regularly and thoroughly sanitizes public spaces including

Rather than delegate essential cleaning and COVID-related work to students, like those in the Student COVID Coalition, we know that the safest, and most just outcome is for the university to hire direct employees responsible for additional cleaning. We subsequently oppose any attempt to privatize these jobs through contracted workers.

Contracting out workers, like those in the dining hall, is a fundamentally racist and exploitative practice meant to cut costs by depriving low-wage, often Black and immigrant workers, of benefits and protections.

We fundamentally aim to see these workers get full benefits, and hazard pay. We recognize that often immigrants, non-english speaking workers are the ones doing these essential tasks. Our interests in a safe university are intricately tied to the interests of these workers who need PPE, hazard pay, and full-time jobs.

Students’ right to privacy must be respected by the university. We are concerned about the expansion of digital surveillance of students and workers.

Already armed police on campus present a threat to Black and Brown students, and directly conflict with the ability to provide a safe campus. Though we strongly support social distancing measures, we fear an expansion of police, or surveillance will make us less safe.

Instead we should look for students and community members to practice mutual support of our community and build trust necessary to encourage social distancing without law enforcement

We also seek to cut the amount of spending on police, and cut any ties the university has with Charlottesville PD.