‘A lot of us are scared.’ Some Mercer students worried about returning to campus

Several Mercer University students have started a petition regarding the university’s policy on in-person classes for the upcoming fall semester during the coronavirus outbreak.

Thomas Eads, a rising senior, said he started the petition on change.org to show the administration at Mercer that students are concerned about returning to classes with the COVID-19 virus continuing to spread through Middle Georgia.

“This really wasn’t supposed to be like an attack on the administration or anything. It was just to show the administration that we have a subset of students who don’t necessarily feel comfortable on campus in the fall and to help us work with them on a solution that works for everybody,” he said.

The petition is approaching 450 signatures. Eads said some of the signatures are from Mercer faculty, parents and Bibb County community members.

Larry Brumley, the senior vice president for marketing communications and chief of staff at Mercer, said because he does not know who is signing the petition, he doesn’t put a lot of stock into the signatures.

“While we recognize that there are some students out there who are anxious about this and have concerns about this, we are also hearing from a good many students, both returning and incoming, that they are ready to be here. They’re ready to be back on campus,” Brumley said. “We’re doing what we believe is best by our students in terms of what we committed to do for them when they enrolled at Mercer, and we believe in the kind of education that we offer. It’s experiential, and you can’t replicate that online.”

Mercer has already held some in-person classes during the second summer semester, and the university plans to continue in-person classes in the fall semester, Brumley said.

Although Mercer has some online degree programs, Brumley said there is no plan for undergraduate students on the Macon campus to have an online option for classes. In March when Mercer went to optional online learning, Brumley said the university received multiple complaints from students and parents who thought the online option was not sufficient.

What is Mercer’s plan?

For the fall semester, Mercer plans to implement several safety precautions including a modified calendar, COVID-19 tests on campus and special accommodations for students who need to be quarantined.

Mercer is also creating Bears Care kits for students, which include a Mercer cloth mask, a two-ounce bottle of hand sanitizer, a digital thermometer, a Bears Care lapel pin, a sticker with the Student Health Center hotline number and a list of COVID-19 symptoms, an information card on proper mask usage and personal hygiene tips and a“Bears Care” pledge card to promote personal responsibility.

“These things are evolving, as the circumstances around us are changing as we get new information from our public health officials and our infectious disease experts,” he said. “We also are very, very committed and working very hard to do everything we can to promote a safe campus community this fall.”

Brumley said Mercer leaders are aware they are going to have some cases of the COVID-19 virus on campus, but they are making proper accommodations for those students based on guidance from the Mercer School of Medicine, Mercer infectious disease experts and local public health officials, he said.

“We believe that Mercer is as well positioned as any institution in the country to navigate this and to take care of our students, faculty and staff because we have a medical school on campus, because we’ve invested in these additional capabilities and protocols, and it’s a manageable size campus,” he said.

Brumley has been in contact with Eads explaining the guidelines, and although Eads said he wants to go back to campus, he said he doesn’t feel safe.

“I think the university has a great plan for mitigating those risks, but as a person who just doesn’t want to expose myself any more than I have to, I’d be much more comfortable being at home,” he said. “I hope that the administration continues working with us to guide us in a direction that we can continue our education, and I appreciate them for working with us as they already have towards coming to a solution.”

What about students and faculty with pre-existing conditions?

Ashley Pettway, a rising senior and president of the disability advocacy group Able Mercer, said she has received many messages from students with pre-existing conditions who are worried about returning to campus.

“Basically we have to choose between losing our financial aid or not graduating on time and completely setting back our academic careers or risking our lives, and that’s not at all fair,” she said. “A lot of us are really, really scared, and we don’t want to be put in a position where we’re in a hospital fighting for our lives or someone we care about is in a hospital fighting for their lives…. It’s avoidable. There’s no reason we shouldn’t avoid it.”

Brumley said Mercer is still developing plans for students and faculty with pre-existing conditions, but the school can work with Mercer’s Access and Accommodations office.

Students debating what to do

Cameron Dawkins, a rising senior double majoring in global health and Spanish, said she’s not sure if she would decide to take an online option if it was offered. She believes it should be offered, regardless of her preference, because she thinks there will be an outbreak of the COVID-19 virus on campus if everyone is required to go to in-person classes.

“If we don’t have our health, then there is no real point in education because we’re not healthy enough to come to class. So I don’t think we should have to choose between our health and our education,” she said.

Although Dawkins said she understands that students didn’t pay for an online education, she said she is worried about the health and safety of the Mercer community. She wishes she could spend her senior year with her friends on campus, but she said her college experience is secondary to her health and the health of others.

“Pretending like the virus doesn’t exist and putting our own personal desires and preferences over the health and safety of others is what got us to this situation in the first place,” she said. “If we continue to have the same mindset and attitude and continue to put those desires over the health and safety of others, we’re only going to see the same thing happen at Mercer, and if we truly are a university that majors in changing the world, then we have to change our actions centered around those values.”

This story was originally published July 12, 2020 at 7:00 AM.