AFI is moving full speed ahead to begin the Fall semester on September 8, 2020. This is happening as new COVID-19 cases are in the thousands in California, without any meaningful indication that the infection is being mitigated.

We, the AFI Class of 2021, see the opening of campus on September 8 and plans to begin production in the fall as inherently dangerous, representing an attitude from the school to open at all costs. Given this path, we feel that we are being forced to choose between our education and our health.

The core of AFI's educational value has always been its hands-on production. Though there are new facilities being rented and safety protocols being created, we believe that these measures pale in comparison to the highly contagious nature of COVID-19. We believe that student (and faculty) infection is virtually guaranteed.

With these considerations in mind, we propose that our Fall semester be pushed to January 2021.

Our hope is that over the course of four additional months, COVD-19 will be better contained, making productions significantly safer. This will also give AFI more time to develop their safety protocols and to keep the door open for more effective solutions, such as a vaccine, better testing protocols, or other innovative ideas that may slow the spread of the virus.

If the AFI administration chooses to ignore this petition, we pledge to withhold tuition payment past the August 14 deadline.