Hunter
08/11/21
With the fall semester fast approaching, members of the University of Iowa community have sent a signed petition to the State Board of Regents pushing for stronger COVID-19 mitigation strategies.
The Press-Citizen says that more than 500 people, most of them faculty members, signed the petition.
The Board recently ruled that none of the three state-run universities could impose a mask or vaccination mandate. The U of I is the only Big Ten school without a vaccination requirement.
Transmission levels in Johnson County have been upgraded from moderate to substantial, much different than at the end of the spring semester. Faculty members have been directed to go back to their classrooms to teach in person, without a mask requirement.
The Regents cite a recently-passed Iowa law that prohibits government entities, like state-run universities, from requiring proof of vaccination as a prerequisite for attending. Calls for Governor Reynolds to reverse the decision have fallen on deaf ears, as a spokesman noted that Reynolds is proud of the ban on mask or other COVID requirements.
The paper reports the petition concludes by saying that morale at the University of Iowa is at an all-time low, and failure to address the rise in transmission puts the school at risk of losing students and employees who may choose a university with more strict protocols.