I am writing this email to explain to you that you and the university are failing me and my peers. You have failed us for the majority of our Fall 2020 semester and we want to make changes while we still can, to have a more positive experience this spring. 

We don’t disagree with you about the risks of the current global pandemic and the actions that are being taken to keep as many people safe as possible. What we DO disagree with is the blatant disregard for our mental health.

This Fall 2020 semester has been the worst of my college career so far. I rarely got to interact with other people and my classes were harder than normal because our professors were not properly equipped with the training and the tools that they needed to do their jobs properly. This semester was a non-stop bombardment of work in the form of homework, quizzes, tests, exams, recordings, and more. We NEVER had a break. We had to keep pushing through our courses instead of trying to learn anything. We received more work than ever before and it was absolutely overwhelming. Me, and many others like myself DO NOT want to partake in large gatherings of any kind. But what we do want is to have time to sit down and watch a movie, read a book, and to call our families to talk for more than five minutes. The university stole that from me. From us. You have stolen and destroyed our mental health and I will stand by that statement for the rest of my life. I will remember how Bradley university failed me and my peers for the Fall 2020 semester. 

Now, you and the university have an opportunity to correct the mistakes that you have continued to make throughout this semester. You have a chance to truly help your students. Help us to be better learners, better students, better collaborators, better people, and more. 

For the Spring 2021 semester there are things we need:

1. We need a break. We understand that we cannot have a traditional spring break, but these homework free days are an insult to our mental health. Professors will not listen to these rules (they never do). We typically receive assignments over Spring break and we even received homework over Thanksgiving break 2020. Also you have only given us two days for an entire semester. You KNOW that this won't truly help us, so correct this mistake. End the semester a week early in place of abolishing our Spring break or take a random day during five different weeks of the semester and say "no classes everyone". 

2. We need time for ourselves. As humans, we need time to relax, recover, and recuperate. Provide us this opportunity by giving us days with no classes, not just homework free days, no. Provide us with mental health days. Promote healthy living by allowing students to do what they need to do to be prepared and ready for the days ahead. Host outdoor workouts if weather permits, encourage students to take positive action for themselves. Students like myself would be elated to provide the university with more suggestions as to what they can do to keep students on campus and safe. 

3. Most importantly, we NEED to be listened to. We have told the university time and time again (through the Student Senate, petitions, and individual emails) what we need and you haven't listened. You treat us like our voices don’t matter, but we will be heard. We are young adults who feel that they are crumbling under the stresses and the pressures of our world right now. We are asking and begging for the university's help and instead you've stood by and watched us turn to dust. Listen to your students. Listen to your staff. We are real people, and we deserve to feel like it.

Thank you for your time.

Logan Harrington and Kelsey Gawel