Xavier University's Covid Task Force just suspended travel for student organizations and club sports for the remainder of the Fall Semester. Club sports are “a platform to participate in collegiate athletics, community involvement, and service. We value student leadership, teamwork, ethical and responsible behavior on and off the field, sportsmanship, and respect for all”. This is a direct quote from the Xavier University website describing the nature of club sports. The university’s leadership is blatantly going against this mission statement with the recent policy changes. 

As student organizations, we have felt nothing but disrespected by the Covid Task Force and administration in the past two years. As varsity sports can continue to travel at full capacity while following the same guidelines as the rest of the school, we still have yet to understand why that privilege does not extend to student organizations and club sports. Still, the University extends the exception to varsity athletics with no proper reasoning behind it. 

In the travel guideline statement, Xavier claims that “Travel is complex and the concerns related to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic stem from our ability to care for and support students who may develop symptoms while traveling”. As autonomous organizations, all complexities in travel are organized and planned independently, with little to no help from the university. All participants are fully vaccinated and plan their itineraries around the current situation of the pandemic. Minimizing risk of members and surrounding community. We always aim for responsible behavior and travel, never veering from the health and safety of our tight knit family. 

No matter how “responsible” this policy change may seem, there is no upholding rationale behind it. We as students have all willingly been fully vaccinated and are ready to assume the risks with traveling. As of this moment, Xavier University has only 10 positive and active cases amongst students. Those 10 students are not a sudden spike in cases, as there has been no more than 10 cases for the past few weeks. Responsibility is important but this is unreasonable to shut down travel for all organizations. 

As you evaluate the implementation of your new guidelines, we encourage you to take a step back and look at the greater picture. See the message you are conveying to your students and who you are choosing to support over others.

Xavier University must reconsider the grounds of this new policy as it is tainted with ignorance, favoritism, and lack of consideration.