Daily Iowan Editorial says UI not safe

Hunter
08/24/20

An editorial in Monday’s Daily Iowan says that the University of Iowa is unsafe and accuses administrators of putting its students in “inexcusable danger.”

The opinion piece says that not only the students are unprotected, but residents of Iowa City and Johnson County are also at risk as thousands of students arrive for the fall semester.

They cite the case of freshman Ann Gaughan, who tested positive for COVID 19 after arriving for school from the Chicago suburbs. Her social media post of how she was treated shows how ill prepared the university is to deal with COVID-19 cases on campus. They call it “disappointing” that the UI had five months since they effectively shut the campus down and still weren’t adequately ready to deal with positive cases.

The editorial also calls out students who have ignored city and county face mask mandates and refuse to practice social distancing, as they filled the downtown this past weekend.

The Editorial Board ends their piece by saying, “Many other universities have all changed to online classes. There is no reason as to why the University of Iowa should not follow. We are all in danger because the UI has failed to act. As long as the UI continues its blatant disregard for our safety, we live under threat.”