AAUP Urges Administrations to Prioritize Health and Safety as Campuses Reopen

The AAUP released the following statement from President Irene Mulvey on safe campus reopenings as the Delta Variant surges.

Thanks to the CDC and other public health experts, we know how to protect people from COVID-19 and end the pandemic. The way forward is to vaccinate as many people as possible, follow masking guidance, and provide regular testing. Institutions of higher education exist to serve the common good. As sites of knowledge creation and scientific discovery, our colleges and universities are uniquely situated to provide leadership by amplifying and promoting trust in CDC guidelines and putting in place sound public health policies and practices, which should include making vaccination easy and convenient for all members of the campus community. 

In this context, it is dismaying that some states are prohibiting institutions from implementing even the most basic public health and safety measures. The AAUP supports the rights of all faculty to organize against these prohibitions and work through their unions and shared governance bodies to ensure that appropriate health and safety measures are enacted. By taking action, we can prevent illness and save lives.

The AAUP calls on campus administrations to do everything possible to ensure the highest level of health and safety, and to follow the guidance of public health experts to use every available tool to protect students, faculty, staff, and neighboring communities from further spread of COVID this fall.