Georgia College Faces Rising COVID-19 Case Count


Monday, August 31, 2020

Colleges and universities in the U.S. are reporting 500+ cases. Many institutions are now imposing even more restrictions on bars and Greek houses. Georgia College student and staff protestors, as seen in the image, have demanded more action from their university.



Georgia College

The COVID-19 case count continues to rise. Student and employment pressure on administrators to take preventive action keeps increasing. As a public liberal arts college in rural Georgia, its campus has become one of the new higher education hottest coronavirus hot spots. The college reported 500 student cases—nearly 8 percent of its student body—as of last Friday.

On Friday morning, students and employees carried signs with phrases such as “I can’t teach if I’m dead” and “I won’t die for the USG,”, referring to the University System of Georgia. These students and employees were mostly physically distanced. They demanded more action from the university to prevent the COVID-19 disease from spreading.

UCWGA-GCSU demands online learning options for both students and instructors. It also demands hazard pay, contract tracing, greater diagnostic testing and security from layoffs. The union has argued that neither testing nor quarantine housing has been provided by the university for its students and staff. At the moment, up to a third of the college student body may be in quarantine.

As many as 829 people have signed an online petition asking for more flexibility for online learning and steps to protect the Georgia College community.

The petition states: “We request the ability for faculty members to decide for themselves whether they will teach face-to-face or online. For those classes that will still meet face-to-face, students should be able to freely request an online option. Longstanding norms of academic freedom dictate that instructors should be allowed to teach their classes as they see fit. In these extraordinary times, it is vital for faculty to guard their own health and that of their students. Anything less would be an abandonment of our duties as educators.”

"We can provide all of the hallmarks of our mission as the state’s only designated public liberal arts institution in an online, safe environment. This is the time to truly embrace our slogan of 'Think Independently. Lead Creatively.' Otherwise, we place ourselves and our students at too great a risk.”

This special update is brought to us by the Inside Higher Ed. Staff. 




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