Dear LSU Student Government, Faculty, and Administration:

COVID-19 continues to present our nation with unprecedented emotional, academic, financial, and psychological obstacles. These challenges are experienced by many, particularly within the LSU community by students who must grapple with economic uncertainty, financial strain, psychological fatigue, heightened anxiety, and civil unrest whilst simultaneously managing the rigors of a hybrid education system.  

In addition to these aforementioned challenges, our students have faced adversity in the forms of natural disaster, a highly consequential election cycle, the continued uncertainty that accompanies the daily headlines surrounding the pandemic, and the renewed calls for justice amidst continued violence against students of color. In these trying times, it becomes the duty of the institutions that serve students to ensure their wellbeing and accommodate their needs in every possible manner. According to the American Psychological Association, anxiety holds the top spot as the main concern for students at 41.6%, followed closely by depression at 36.4%. Recently, Dr. John Otzenberger, the LSU Student Health Center Director of Mental Health noted that "[t]here's been research that says it's been harder for college students to access mental health [services] because of the pandemic."

The lack of accessibility to these services upon which students rely to cope with the aforementioned rigors being posed by the Covid-19 pandemic , we, the students of Louisiana State University, petition our beloved university for the following:

• Amend final grading options to include a Pass/No Credit option 
• Strongly encouraging professors to make appropriate accommodations for students adversely impacted by the pandemic (i.e. assigning less homework, providing more excused absences, and a longer Monday-Sunday and assignment free “Dead Week”) 
• A commitment to expanding and improving mental health options at LSU, followed by action..

Universities exist to educate and support their student body. The burdensome pressures experienced by many LSU students due to the harsh, volatile, and unpredictable external environment that currently exists necessitates that the University respond in a supportive and impactful manner. Students are desperately awaiting the support we ask for now. Time is of the essence. These are trying times and our students and university need now, perhaps more than ever, to work together to ensure that our inspiring halls beneath the stately oaks continue to be a respite for all who call our university home.   

Sincerely,

A Group of Concerned Tigers