With the recently released plan on how UVIC should return to in-person classes in the upcoming Fall Semester.

While a plan is better than no plan- the plan that was presented by UVIC has several glaring shortcomings- namely...

- Masks may be not required. (The matter is still up in the air)
- Vaccines will not be required for in person attendance.
- No social distancing will be done. 
- Residences will return to full capacity.

What this plan can create is this situation where potentially a hundred or more unvaccinated, potentially unmasked, cramped college kids are in a tight classroom space. 
Furthermore, especially at UVIC- we saw last September 100+ people parties happening in September. 

This petition aims to have the Board of Governors at the University of Victoria for the Fall Semester 2021 mandate the following:

1. 100% require the usage of masks indoors and public spaces where crowding is possible (bus shelters, fountain, etc...).
2. Employ social distancing as much as possible. For example: Lectures could be delivered online and Lab sessions could be done in person where the class sizes are significantly less. 
3. Address the issue with residences and prevent what occurred last fall.

Right now the plan being presented is no plan at all. Letting everyone back in and seeing how things go is not the way to make sure that history does not repeat itself and that we can finally exit the pandemic once and for all.
 
You can read the Martlet piece in regards to this here