On March 26, KentWired published an article describing an email sent to faculty from the Provost that stated, “in-person classes will move to a ‘3-foot distancing format’ in the fall of 2021,” citing the CDC’s guidelines for K-12 schools. 

This email presents information in a misleading way to justify the new policy. For example: 

• It states that the local health department has “interpreted” that the CDC’s guidelines for K-12 schools apply to Kent State, but Kent is a university, and current CDC guidelines for universities still recommend 6 feet for social distancing (CDC)
• It claims that Kent has “low levels of positivity rates,” but Kent State is located in Portage County, which is at an “extremely high risk level” (New York Times)
• It describes “continuing improvement in vaccination availability for all our community members,” but Kent is not mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for students and has been unsuccessful in achieving herd immunity through vaccinations for other infectious diseases on campus (KentWired)
• It says that Kent is experiencing “rapid improvement in the COVID-19 safety outlook in our classrooms” but transmission, variants, and another surge are still big problems in the US (Time Magazine​, CNBC​, CDC​, AP News)  

It also gives faculty far more protection than students. Instructor areas will be six feet away from students, and faculty can choose to teach remotely. However, students cannot choose to attend classes remotely without an accommodation from Student Accessibility Services - and even those are not guaranteed. 

This is both an unsafe and unfair policy. It is not backed by current scientific research or recommendations, and it does not have students’ best interests in mind. 

Sign this petition to tell the Office of the Provost to keep the Kent State Fall ‘21 distancing policy at 6 feet!

Click here to read the full letter that will be sent to President Todd Diacon, Senior Vice President and Provost Melody Tankersley, Interim Associate Provost of Academic Affairs Manfred van Dulmen, and the Deans of Kent Campus Colleges detailing why this change is harmful.