Anonymous testimonials from UMich grad instructors and students highlighting the importance of allowing instructors to require masks in class. #WhyWeMaskUMich
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ALT Stylized image of people wearing masks. An orange bar at the top contains the header, “#WhyWeMaskUMich, Instructors deserve the right to require masking!”. A light blue box contains the following anonymous testimonial, “I have felt unsafe teaching at times. I also feel like this policy ignores the safety of our disabled and immune-challenged students. It prioritizes “comfort”/“normalcy” over the lives and right to education of several students. We all deserve a safe space to teach and learn.”
ALT Screenshot of r/UofM reddit post. Text reads "So many sick people at the library"
ALT Screenshot of r/UofM reddit post. Text reads, "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STAY HOME IF YOU'RE SICK!"
ALT Screenshot of r/UofM reddit post. Text reads "Coughing in Chem 125"
ALT screenshot of r/uofm reddit page cover photo
ALT Screenshot of reddit post from r/uofm. The post has 610 upvotes and 70 comments. Text reads, "COVER YOUR FUCKING MOUTH WHEN YOU COUGH YOU FUCKING ANIMALS"
ALT A screenshot of The Wigginton-Eisenberg Laboratory's wastewater monitoring website showing current organism detection levels across Washtenaw county, Michigan. The graph shows high COVID-19 levels in the cities of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Flint, Jackson, and Tecumseh
ALT Stylized image of people wearing masks. An orange bar at the top contains the header, “#WhyWeMaskUMich, Instructors deserve the right to require masking!”. A light blue box contains the following anonymous testimonial, “I caught COVID from an instructional setting in Spring 2022. I continue to mask in class and around others, but feel less safe than last year.”
ALT A screenshot of The Wigginton-Eisenberg Laboratory's wastewater monitoring website showing current organism detection levels across Washtenaw county, Michigan. The graph shows high COVID-19 levels in the cities of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Flint, Jackson, and Tecumseh.
ALT Stylized image of people wearing masks. An orange bar at the top contains the header, “#WhyWeMaskUMich, Instructors deserve the right to require masking!”. A light blue box contains the following anonymous testimonial, “I am currently enduring Long Covid after my kid’s daycare refused to institute masks even after proof of community transmission. I was in bed for 6 weeks, got pneumonia, and am experiencing symptoms three months later. My kid is not yet eligible for the updated boosters, and I cannot get sick again, nor can I risk getting him sick — I won’t be able to do my job! Even if folks don’t care about the health impacts, even a few days of illness will severely disrupt my ability to do my job. Not being allowed to require masks in a large cramped lecture hall makes no sense and is asking for extreme disruption to the business of the university. “mild” covid has disabled me, and it is immoral for us as an institution to do nothing to prevent it from disabling others.”
ALT Stylized image of people wearing masks. An orange bar at the top contains the header, “#WhyWeMaskUMich, Instructors deserve the right to require masking!”. A light blue box contains the following anonymous testimonial, “I have had multiple students show up to class unmasked, and then email me the very next day saying they have tested positive, thereby having exposed me and their peers. I've had students with other viruses -- mono, colds, etc -- come to class unmasked and coughing since "it's not COVID." I've worn my KN95 to class each day this semester and opened windows (when I'm not in a windowless classroom). So far, I've been personally lucky -- but I recognize it to be just that: luck. I have enough to manage in the classroom; I shouldn't be put in a position to plead with students to wear masks. I want to be allowed to make this a policy.”
ALT Pull Over Prevention Flyer in English
ALT Pull Over Prevention Flyer in Arabic
ALT Pull Over Prevention Flyer in Spanish
ALT A screenshot of the Washtenaw county wastewater tracker's current organism detection level for COVID and influenza.
ALT Stylized image of people wearing masks. An orange bar at the top contains the header, “#WhyWeMaskUMich, Instructors deserve the right to require masking!”. A light blue box contains the following anonymous testimonial, “I’ve chosen to work from home as I have a 5 month old at home. Thankfully I am not in a GSI position and I can work from home. But if I were teaching I would be very concerned on how teaching in person could put me and my baby at risk— especially when they cannot be vaccinated until 6 months old.”
ALT Stylized image of people wearing masks. An orange bar at the top contains the header, “#WhyWeMaskUMich, Instructors deserve the right to require masking!”. A light blue box contains the following anonymous testimonial, “Because I live with a high risk individual, I chose to take my fellowship a year earlier (even though I didn't want to), just so I could avoid teaching. And now that my fellowship has ended, I've taken up another remote job for this semester. And I have already started looking for another job for next semester. So I have to also spend my time and effort on looking for jobs rather than focus on research. It's also a lot of uncertainty - What if I don't get another job? I will be forced to put my family's life at risk for a job that won't even cover any COVID related illness.”
ALT A light blue box contains the following anonymous testimonial, “As someone with chronic conditions, the loosening of covid/masking requirements has been a huge blow to my sense of safety. I live in a student co-op and we have had covid-positive cases for a whole month straight this academic year. In other words, aside from this week, there has not been a time where we have not had covid cases in the house since I have moved in. Because the university isn't enforcing any covid restrictions, it gives students a false sense of safety, leading to these types of situations and unsafe norms. Listening to public health guidelines is important and keeps us safe and healthy; data from both domestic and international sources is screaming this to us. Long covid is not fully understood and I do not know why we are risking everyone's long-term health just so we don't have to wear masks. For a university that has such a large emphasis on research, we are doing a miserable job listening to the data.
ALT Stylized image of people wearing masks. An orange bar at the top contains the header, “#WhyWeMaskUMich, Instructors deserve the right to require masking!”. A light blue box contains the following anonymous testimonial, I live in a household with a loved one that had congestive heart failure. COVID-19 increases risks for heart attacks and strokes, so needless to say I am terrified of contracting the virus and bringing it home to them from classes and my teaching obligations. I have lost two family members from COVID-19 and almost lost my mom last winter from it. She was hospitalized and almost did not make it. The virus took a heavily toll on her and she had to relearn how to walk. I am also concerned for my own health and safety as Black people are disproportionately hospitalized and die from this virus.
ALT Screenshot of GEO contract language part 1. Text reads: "1. Graduate student instructors shall have the ability to request mask-wearing (including the use of high-quality masks like N95, KN95, and KF94 masks) in any teaching space, laboratory, office, or other in-person meeting space. 2. To maintain pedagogical stability, Employees shall have the right to request that a class for an in-person course be taught remotely in situations when the in-person class may be canceled or taught by a substitute teacher due to health and safety concerns. 3. Graduate student instructors shall have the ability to bring their own portable air filtration devices into classrooms, unless doing so would violate building codes."
ALT Screenshot of GEO contract language part 2. Text reads: "4. For Employees who are immunocompromised, it will be considered a reasonable accommodation to provide a N95, KN95, KF94, or other like masks. The university will offer fit-testing once, to any Employee with an accommodation under this provision, to ensure proper sizing. If the requested accommodation is for a half-face respirator that may be available as a reasonable accommodation if approved by a EHS/OHS Physician. 5. Prior to implementing changes regarding health and safety protections that would impact the terms and conditions of Employee’s employment, the Employer shall provide reasonable notification to the union in which case the union will have the opportunity to respond with respect to the potential impact on terms and conditions of employment for Employees."