The following essay by UCWGA member David Nickel appeared in the August 27 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Eduction.     

With the fall semester set to resume on August 20, UGA’s reopening plans are still inadequate and ultimately imperil students, workers, the Athens community, and citizens of Georgia. On Monday August 17, UGA graduate student workers, staff, and faculty from the United Campus Workers of Georgia assembled in front of the Arch (masked and socially distanced) protesting UGA’s plans that prioritize profits over people, the dangerous campus conditions, and demanding safer reopening conditions with no layoffs. 

Read UCWGA member Joe Fu's Op-Ed here: https://flagpole.com/featured/2020/08/11/uga-reopening-webinar-reveals-a-plan-full-of-holes/

UGA recently held a webinar to address questions the campus community had about plans to reopen. The moderator selected a handful of these questions to present to the panelists. UCWGA put out a call, asking people to forward a copy of the questions they submitted for the webinar. Below is a list of the questions people sent us that were not addressed in the webinar. For a list of questions that were addressed, see the bottom of this document.

Participants: President Jere Morehead, Provost Jack Hu, Vice President for Instruction Rahul Shrivastav, Vice President for Student Affairs Victor Wilson, University Health Center Executive Director Garth Russo, AU/UGA Medical Partnership Campus Dean Shelley Nuss, and College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Lisa Nolan. Libby Morris, Director of the Institute of Higher Education, moderator.

On Thursday, August 6th at noon, UGA students, staff, and faculty, supported by members of the United Campus Workers of Georgia, staged a physically distant, masked “die-in” to protest what some are calling UGA’s “death calculus.” The protest took place on UGA’s North Campus in front of the Office of the President.