On Monday, 24th August 2020, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's (ERAU) Daytona Beach Residential Campus began its 2020 Fall Semester, which meant a large number of students returning on campus for face-to-face instruction for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. 

A smaller number of students were on campus prior for the Summer B semester. 

As to be expected, ERAU outlined reasonable guidelines for its students and faculty to adhere to in order to prevent the spread of the virus. This includes a daily temperature check, mandatory face covering/mask wearing, and enforced social distancing upon all who stepped foot on campus. The University made clear that these guidelines would be enforced with strict consequences for violators. 

Prior to the first day of classes, a group of students broke these guidelines with a gathering in the volleyball courts on campus. The University responded immediately with a response that tightens enforcement and reminds students that if they gather and/or don't wear masks, they may be suspended from the University. That statement can be read here. 

On Thursday, 27th August, after classes had begun, a plethora of students were baffled to see a gathering in the "Mori Hosseini" Student Union, the main dining and gathering facility on campus, with what appeared to be a group of school administrators (later discovered to include trustees) holding a gala-like event in the open, with attendees sitting in close-quartered tables. Elegant dining ware and meals aside, the attendees were not wearing nor appeared to be in possession of face coverings and were not practicing social distancing. School administrators were breaking not only the school's guidelines, but may have also been in violation of Daytona Beach local ordinances requiring masks in public spaces. 

Pictures of the gathering quickly circulated around the student body and gained much criticism of "elitism," "double-standards," and "hypocrisy."

The University President's two email responses, dated 28th and 29th August, are in student inboxes and do not appear available on www.erau.edu. They will not be posted here in order to avoid plagiarism. The student body also received a message of agreement from the SGA President. 

The University President assured students that all attendees of this event underwent rigorous COVID-19 testing and screening, though no specific data was given. He also admitted that this event involved many mistakes on the part of the administration, and he took full responsibility for the events. 

No notation of any part of this controversy, including remarks from the University President, are seen on the internal student web hub "ERNIE," although as of this writing the "Volleyball Court" article is the first thing students will see when they log in.

As more information was uncovered, students learned that this event was a retreat hosted for the Board of Trustees for both The University of Florida and ERAU, of which Mori Hosseini, the namesake of the building in which this event occurred, is an influential member and chairman of both. 

An anonymous student posted the schedule for the event.

As this controversy has developed, and the "damage control" from the administration has devolved, a vast number of students have agreed on the following:

1. University Administration is just as responsible as students and faculty to follow COVID-19 guidelines, and therefore are just as susceptible for consequences to their actions. 

2. The University demonstrated hypocrisy and elitism in breaking these guidelines, for all students to see, just days after scolding a number of gathering students and outlining strict consequences for any student who chose to make the same violation. 

3. The Student Body wants our Student Union, the center of our campus, the center of our student life, the center of our University Culture, to represent those who pay the tuition, fund the student government, and funded the construction of that building: the STUDENTS. We do not believe Mori Hosseini, the Trustees involved in this hypocritical display of the double standard, or the University Administration should hold the naming rights for this building.  

We as a student body respect the policies that the University has set forward in order to keep us all healthy while allowing us to attend class in-person, demonstrated by a walk through campus today: we are wearing masks, we are social distancing, and we have our wellness check wristbands. We do not, however, respect the idea that those who rank above us are free to choose what rules to follow. 

Overall, those signing their name to this petition agree that the naming of our student union building should reflect student influence, our student values, and if named after a person, a person that we believe represents us. We acknowledge the generosity of Mori Hosseini and several other ERAU donors and their commitment to our University over the years. 

This piece was written by Nicholas Tay, a Junior on the Daytona Beach Campus. Please email any discrepancies or corrections regarding the information presented within to nick@nicktay.net.