A group of OU community members is calling for two days of action from Sept. 20 to 21 in response to “administration’s inaction” on strengthening university COVID-19 policies.
The OU Days of Action was formed to address OU’s “woefully behind” response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the website. Organizers are calling for an end to the battle between OU and its faculty by hosting a community walkout on Sept. 20 and a protest Sept. 21.
Employees are urged to cancel classes or move them online to deny labor to OU, according to the website. Students are also encouraged not to attend class.
Professors who choose to hold classes are asked to dedicate their instruction to a teach-in session on worker and student health and safety using the group’s curriculum. The first lesson plan discusses the relationship between community medicine and virology, and workplace health and safety. The second covers best practices in public health mitigation within public universities.
The group asked community members to attend the OU Board of Regents meeting at 2:30 p.m., Sept. 20 in the Robert M. Bird Health Sciences Library to “voice displeasure with the inadequate policy.” Those who don’t feel comfortable attending in person are encouraged to send a letter to the regents.
The group defined the protest on Sept. 21 as “continued action,” according to the website. Community members can meet outside of Evans Hall for a noon rally.
“OU remains committed to forging ahead recklessly, with no meaningful COVID policies in place, having ignored these pleas from its community, refusing any semblance of shared governance,” the website read. “With procedural options clearly exhausted, we must take the next step.”
The group’s demands are in line with OU-AAUP’s Aug. 11 open letter to university administration, which include providing a legal rebuttal to Senate Bill 658 and Executive Order 2021-16 or challenging both statutes in state courts.
As of Sept. 2-8, OU’s COVID dashboard reflects 61 positive cases out of 534 tests. Cleveland County’s seven-day average is 194 cases, as of Sept. 13, according to the New York Times. So far, in Cleveland County, September has been the month with the highest average cases since January.
The group’s call to action follows OU President Joseph Harroz’s Sept. 12 visit to an OU Media Law class, where the president said he is meeting with administration to evaluate a university-wide mask mandate. OU Senior Vice President and Provost André-Denis Wright said in a Monday OU Faculty Senate meeting the university has no plans to enact a campus wide mask mandate, as doing so would “require exemptions without disciplinary action.”
