USC students! The administration is contemplating some form of online classes for next semester. Sign this petition if you believe that USC classes should be in-person or at the very least hybrid in the spring semester. Sign this petition if you stand for connection, community, and love! If you are unsure, or even prefer online classes, please read this petition in it’s entirety. Not only are we in the COVID-19 pandemic, we are in a pandemic of depression, loneliness and sadness. We need to come together in real life to spread love and joy. 

Suicide is the leading cause of death for college students, besides accidents. (source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4535338/ COVID-19 is not. Not a single USC student has died from COVID-19 while many of us have died from self harm. COVID-19 has killed many people, but we have myopically focused on it and have overlooked other aspects of health. Across age groups, suicide is the the tenth leading cause of death in the world. In a perfect human society, viruses will continue to evolve and effect us because of the way of nature, but not a single person should die from suicide. Every single death by suicide is preventable. 

While depression is multifaceted and complex, isolation is a key indicator of depression. When we are lonely, it is hard to have hope. It is impossible to share what we can offer to the world when we live in isolation. Without community and support it’s much easier to be anxious, to lose confidence, and to forget our dreams. A decision to have classes online for any point in the semester will only exacerbate the mental health crisis. Not to mention that some students find it impossible to learn through a screen.

We need in-person class to fight the pandemic of loneliness. Being in-person makes a world of difference with connecting to our professors and peers. When we are online, we miss countless opportunities to ask our professors questions and get into spontaneous conversations with new people. Our campus is filled with people brimming with wisdom and when we go online we lose access to this bounty of gold that is as easy to access with a simple, “hello”. We can empower each other in big or small ways. We can listen deeply to each other’s stories, we can compliment each other’s outfits, or we can smile at each other in passing. There are people who are immunocompromised, so classes should be recorded for them. All classes should have an in-person option because having a real life community is essential for human vitality. Anthropologists always remark at the lack of mental health issues within intact indigenous tribes. This is because they have community! They play, hunt, dance, sleep and love together. Also, research shows that a positive mental attitude supports our immune systems while depression can weaken it (source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-happiness-doctor/201706/happiness-and-your-immune-system We need to empower each other, affirm each other, and come together on campus to fight the mental health crisis and COVID-19.

To Carol Folt and the USC administration:

We understand that you want us to be in person just as much as we do and that you are under the constrictions of the city and state. We as the students want you to know that the decision to take classes online will hurt USC students. You will not be keeping us safe. We are more likely to contemplate suicide and act on it than to be hurt by the virus. Also, a decision to have classes online at any point will hurt the community as well. USC is one of the largest employers in South Central. Some of our service workers may be out of a job for sometime and will suffer the consequences. We are requesting that you keep campus open to allow us to heal from the isolation and separation we endured the past two years.

To USC professors:

Some of you are older and immunocompromised, but to those of you are healthy and had class online last semester, we request that you show up for us in-person. We are the future leaders of this world and when you put in half your effort with us, you are putting in half of your effort for the future. We are in a meta-crisis right now. Humanity’s physical and mental health is deteriorating, the environment is collapsing, and our political systems are falling of the rails. We NEED your wisdom. We want to hear your infinite amount of knowledge in-person. Please show up for us.

To USC students:

YOU are beautiful. YOU have boundless wisdom and knowledge within you. YOU deserve to be seen, not as a tiny box on a zoom screen, but as a living, breathing, loving human being with all of your imperfections and beauty. YOU are enough. When we come back together in person let us not take for granted the epic community we have. Allow yourself to share your stories and listen to the experiences of others. Let your opinions be tested and knowledge grow. Make a commitment to show up with inner peace and outer beauty, everyday. YOU have it, you just have to believe you do. We need your love, we need your light, we need you to show up everyday as your best self. You never know how sad the person is who sits next you in lecture and you never know how far an invitation to lunch may go for them. Opportunities like this will not exist in the separation of the online world. You can actively save lives by spreading love, positivity, and joy. If you make the conscious choice to show up as your best self and empower others, others will start to believe in their own beauty. May this petition kickstart a pandemic of love on campus, may we come together in peace, and may we work towards an enlightened future.

- Shane Cole