Burlington city councilors, residents and University of Vermont affiliates gathered in front of UVM’s Waterman Building Friday to call on the school to change its reopening plan in an effort to prevent a Covid-19 outbreak.
The press conference was organized by Burlington City Councilor Jane Stromberg, P-Ward 8, who says the university should not open for in-person instruction at all, on the same day that the first UVM students moved into on-campus dorms.
The group called on UVM administrators to provide more detailed explanations about how the college will prevent the spread of the coronavirus. In addition, they want officials to engage more with the public about the reopening plan, as concerns boil over about the imminent influx of students to Burlington.
“We’re out here today to address the blatant negligence and lack of accountability of the ultimate decision-maker at UVM, and to address the university’s reopening and the concerns surrounding it,” Stromberg said.
Burlington City Council President Max Tracy, P-Ward 2, said he would “be open to exploring council action” if the university won’t even talk about revising its reopening plan.
“I think that we have to do everything in our power to make sure that this is a safe situation for Burlington,” he said.
The groups said the school should provide contingency plans in case there’s an outbreak on campus or delays in testing. City leaders also said there should be more support and oversight of off-campus students.
“A lot of my constituents have very little faith in the plan that we’ve been shown,” said Councilor Zoraya Hightower, P-Ward 1. “And so we want to see what the plan is when things go wrong — when things go as the university isn’t expecting.”
Tracy, Hightower and Councilor Jack Hanson, P-East District, stopped short of saying the university should not reopen at all, but Tracy said, “I need to see real changes to have confidence that they can reopen safely.”
Tracy called on UVM President Suresh Garimella to appear before the City Council to discuss the reopening plan.
Hanson decried the lack of engagement from Garimella.
“We need to see President Garimella out in the open and in the public engaging with these concerns, engaging with the media, engaging with the City Council and with the community and speaking to how the university is going to improve and respond to the concerns that are raised today,” he said.
In an emailed statement to VTDigger, UVM spokesperson Enrique Corredera wrote that “UVM has one of the most stringent plans of any university in the country.”
“The university’s plan includes an extensive testing protocol that calls for students to be tested prior to arriving on campus, upon arrival, seven days later, and weekly for the first few weeks,” he wrote. “UVM’s plan meets or exceeds the state’s Safe and Healthy Return to Campus guidance, including its isolation and quarantine requirements.”
Earlier this week, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger called for changes in the reopening plan in a letter to Garimella, but the UVM president offered no concessions in his response.
Garimella defended the school’s reopening strategy as one of the best in the country in an Inside Higher Ed opinion piece on Monday.
People at Friday’s press conference repeatedly raised the issue of enforcing public health measures among off-campus students. Stromberg read letters from concerned constituents and state lawmakers.
“I think they need to do much more to be able to respond in real time to these concerns around social distancing violations off campus to make sure that people are able to respond,” Tracy said — and that’s just one of a “myriad of concerns” he says he has about the school reopening.
Corredera wrote that the school’s Office of Student and Community Relations “has been in ongoing communication with our students and responding to concerns raised by our neighbors.”
“We are confident that our plan will enable UVM to offer a high-quality education to our students and a productive work setting for faculty and staff in an environment that puts their safety and well-being first,” he wrote.
Corredera told VTDigger earlier this month that only 1,300 students have chosen the stay-at-home option, under which all classes will be conducted remotely. More than 13,000 students were enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs at UVM in 2019.
In a letter to UVM parents on Thursday, Provost Patricia Prelock warned that freshmen and sophomores who chose the stay-at-home option will face harsh penalties, including suspension, if they come to campus.
“The university will continue to monitor circumstances on campus, in the community, and in the state,” Corredera wrote. “As those circumstances evolve, we will work closely with public health and infectious disease experts on our faculty, and with Vermont Department of Health officials and state leaders to determine appropriate steps.”
City Councilor Ali Dieng, I-Ward 7, called on students to be responsible about public health guidelines and stop holding large parties.
“These parties need to stop,” he said. “You need to make some sacrifices.”
Many UVM undergrads, though, remain skeptical about what is to come. Cobalt Tolbert, an undergrad who spoke at the press conference Friday, said he doesn’t think students will be attending in-person classes until Thanksgiving, as currently planned.
“I think that we’re going to reopen, we’re going to inevitably hit an outbreak crisis and we’re going to have to shut down,” he said. “That’s sort of schematic, sounds kind of simple, but it also means that Burlington itself is going to suffer, that students and staff and faculty are going to be forced to bear the academic, psychological and financial burden of holding up the university’s poor decision-making.”
