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OU community members participate in Days of Action, citing need for public pressure, advocacy

OU Days of Action

An OU Days of Action graphic announcing a walkout and protest over two days. 

 Screenshot by Jillian Taylor

OU community members are participating in a two-day Days of Action community walkout to urge administrators to adopt common-sense COVID-19 policies, including vaccine and mask mandates and incentives, and remote work and study options for all students, staff and faculty.

According to the Days of Action website, the two-day event, lasting until Tuesday, is meant to utilize public pressure and advocacy. Participants are encouraged to write letters to the Board of Regents and share the demands of the movement on social media with #OUCovidWalkout.    

Students and faculty are encouraged not to attend class or cancel classes for the duration of the walkout, with a rally scheduled for noon Tuesday in front of Evans Hall. 

Days of Action participants attended the Board of Regents meeting today to voice their demands to the Regents. At the meeting, President Joseph Harroz asked that students and faculty view the university’s action as “imperfect balancing”. Harroz said that state law will continue to effect how the university monitors its pandemic response. 

"The university could be taking some very simple steps to ensure people's safety, and they aren't taking those steps right now," Michael Jablonski, an OU mathematics professor and walkout participant, said, "Those steps are requiring masks and requiring vaccines. Other universities in the US are doing this." 

Schools like the Minnesota State public college system currently require that students living in dorms or on sports teams be vaccinated or submit to regular testing.

An OU spokesperson said in an email that keeping the OU community healthy remains a top priority, and the university has been working closely with Faculty and Staff Senate Executive Committees. The spokesperson also said OU has implemented COVID-19 mitigation policies to the full extent of the law.

The university cites EO 2021-16 and SB 658 as preventing it from requiring masks and vaccines. EO 2021-16 prohibits mandating masks or requiring a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of admittance to any public building, and SB 658 does not allow certain institutions — including a board of education of a public or technology center school district and the board of regents of an institution within the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education — to mandate vaccines or enforce mask mandates for unvaccinated students against COVID-19.

The spokesperson said administrators also urge all OU community members to get vaccinated and expects community members to wear masks indoors, especially in high-density settings, such as classrooms and special events. 

Jablonski said he’s participated in two walkouts in his 20 years of teaching, the first one being for graduate students living below the poverty line due to their wages at OU. 

"I’m not the kind of guy that participates in events like these at the drop of a hat. I think what we can and should do, as a community, is speak up in support of our colleagues who don't have as much influence, or don't have the political protection that comes with tenure or just don't have the courage to be able to speak up in front of the class," Jablonski said, "This is not a one-person problem or a one-professor problem. This is a systems problem. We need to work collectively."  

As COVID-19 continues to spike, OU professors have left their jobs and considered moving out of Oklahoma. OU recently implemented a mask mandate that requires students and professors to wear masks for two weeks in classes where students test positive, although some students and professors worry that the two week mandate won’t be enough. 

Students have also expressed concern over COVID-19 protocols. Last week the OU Student Government Association released an open letter expressing its  frustration over the state  government’s restrictions on masking procedures, and students also expressed their concerns over the lack of masking during Camp Crimson. 

Community members took to Twitter to share reasons for participating in OU Days of Action, including wanting better workplace and classroom safety protocols, and knowing people experiencing longterm COVID-19 effects.