ASU Barrett is planning a trip to Hawai'i for spring break. This trip would be purely recreational (no volunteering/educational reason). There are many issues with the prospect of this trip:

• COVID: The pandemic is not over. Just because ASU campus remains open does not mean the pandemic is over, it is not a "go ahead" to return to normal operations. Unnecessary travel further exposes those students, and by extension anyone on ASU campus they interact with, to germs from literally all over the world. This is how new variants of COVID are spread, because people continue to unnecessarily travel. Even with mask mandates, students do not follow the policy. It is easy to see this anywhere you go on campus. Students do not wear masks properly or consistently, so to plan this trip on the grounds that masks will keep students and Hawai'i residents safe is irresponsible and ignorant of the true attitudes of students.
• Impacts of COVID on Hawai'i: Hawaii is suffering from the impacts of COVID with overwhelmed hospitals and limited resources. COVID has hit the native peoples of the islands disproportionately and the limited resources need to be used for residents, not tourists. 
• Many Native Hawaiians have asked that tourists cease travel to Hawai'i during the pandemic. In a survey regarding resident sentiment towards re-opening Hawaii to tourism, 65% of surveyed residents agreed or strongly agreed that "people from outside Hawaii should not be visiting right now". 62% disagreed with the statement "I am confident that state and county governments can safely re-open my island to visitors from outside the state of Hawaii, and 62% disagreed with the statement "The state and county governments are doing an effective job at enforcing the mandatory 14-day quarantine for visitors arriving from outside the state of Hawaii". Granted, this survey was done in 2020, however there is no more recent survey of resident sentiments so this is the only 'official' reference.

  Pushback on social media speaks volumes. Residents of Hawaii have been posting on Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, you name it, to stop coming to Hawaii, and if you are planning a trip to Hawaii to cancel it. 

• The pandemic has highlighted deep rooted issues with settler colonialism of Hawai'i. There is a lot of ignored history about the islands, which Native Hawaiians want tourists to know about and respect. If you do not know the history of Hawai'i and the circumstances under which it became a state, I recommend doing some research on the topic.

The fact that ASU is planning this trip shows the total disregard and lack of respect for native peoples wishes. We have a chance to break the pattern of mistreatment against Hawai'i and its people with the way we react during this pandemic.

After finding out about this trip, I emailed the organizer of the trip Ashley Brand (ashleybrand@asu.edu) as well as the assistant Dean of Students Dawn Rendell (dawn.rendell@asu.edu). I never received a reply from Dawn. From Ashley, I have received three short responses to my lengthy emails explaining the concerns I have outlined above. Her responses make it clear to me that my concerns are not being taken seriously. If enough students speak out against this trip then we have a better chance of stopping it, or even just changing the destination to a different, safer location which respects the wishes of local communities.