A new online petition is demanding that all University of Hawaii classes remain online only through the fall semester, rather than returning to in-person and on-campus. The petition, with the hashtag #NotGoingBack, had only 57 signatures late Wednesday afternoon, out of a target of 1,000.

The petition questions whether the safety of students & faculty, other university employees, their families, and the community can be adequately protected if UH rushes to reopen on-campus classes in the fall.

il dated May 4, 2020, UH President David Lassner stated that, “the University of Hawai?i plans to resume in-person classes on all 10 campuses beginning August 24, 2020.” Later, on May 15, 2020 President Lassner and top administrators stated that, “plans are now being developed as to how we can best operate safely and effectively in Fall 2020.” Such a plan, they say, prioritizes the accommodation of “high-risk students, faculty and staff, quarantined or ill students, [and] international students who are unable to travel to campus.” While we are asked to wait for a more definite plan likely to be released by June 30th, we are told that “public health best practices” will guide decision making going forward.

The half-measures proposed by UH, however, fail to prioritize the health and safety of UH students, faculty, and staff or, indeed, the general public. Available research carried out by epidemiologists, immunologists, and public health officials, show that the only effective way to avoid spreading Covid-19 on our campuses is for no one to gather at them. Opening the campuses to masses of students, faculty, and staff will create large public gatherings with all the inherent dangers.

It is unclear how widespread opposition to an early campus reopening is among the university’s unionized employees and students.

Meanwhile, UH President David Lassner sent an email today to all UH employees, which is also posted on the UH website.

Unless you have been advised otherwise by your supervisor, you should continue your current work arrangements during the month of June. Decisions on working arrangements are being made at the unit level. Employees who may want to return to work or are asked to return will only be allowed to do so when safe practices are in place. Please continue to use the online leave system to indicate if you are working from home by selecting the “COVID-19 Work From Home” option.

The overlapping guidance of state and county governments continues to evolve as they work to reopen and restart the economy while managing risks in a highly dynamic environment with many unknowns. As you heard last week in my joint message with our union leaders, UH and all of our campuses are actively working over the summer to develop plans, utilizing the best guidance available, to create safer working environments for all employees and students during a fall semester that will include both on-campus instruction and heavy usage of online technologies.

Thank you again for your patience as we navigate this complex situation. And thank you for your continued commitment to our students and to the entire state we serve.

And from the Boston Globe (May 20):

The leaders of major Boston-area colleges and universities say they are hoping to hold some or all of their courses on campus this fall, even as epidemiologists warn that colleges by their very nature might put students and faculty at risk for COVID-19.

“We are going to have to be more flexible than we’ve ever been in the way that we offer education,” Boston University president Robert Brown said Wednesday, speaking on a panel hosted by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce where he and other campus leaders outlined how they plan to create safe campus environments this fall.

But experts in infectious disease said that will be a nearly impossible task.