As students return to classes this fall, COVID-related precautions are at the forefront of nearly everyone’s mind.
However, the assurance of safety and the flexibility to adapt to the new “normal” as it pertains to large group settings is not a sentiment that seems to be shared by everyone.
A tweet by a University of Cincinnati student has recently gone viral, which presents an email response from the student’s professor after he was instructed by the health department not to attend an in-person lab after his girlfriend tested positive for the coronavirus.
Evan Sotzing posted the email on Twitter on Sept. 17, explaining the situation: “My girlfriend tested positive for COVID and the University of Cincinnati’s Health Department instructed me to not attend my in-person lab. Not only did my professor give me a zero for not going, but this was his response.”
Sotzing shared a screenshot of his professor John Ucker’s response to the situation, who replied, “For students testing positive for the chinese virus, I will give no grade. You can read the info I sent to the class re: the torsion test.”
My girlfriend tested positive for COVID and the University of Cincinnati’s Health Department instructed me to not attend my in-person lab. Not only did my professor give me a zero for not going, but this was his response: pic.twitter.com/WYlbi5apdi
— lil sauce (@sotzing_) September 17, 2020
We reached out to the University of Cincinnati’s Executive Director of Media Relations + Content and UC’s Spokesperson M.B. Reilly for comment. Reilly provided us with a statement from Dean John Weidner of the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
We immediately looked into this matter on behalf of the student to ensure that our Return to Campus guidelines were followed. The adjunct instructor involved has a routine policy of allowing any student to forego one of the lab tests so that grade will not be recorded. Academic accommodations are necessary to safeguard the health and safety of our students, and faculty are encouraged to be flexible with attendance policies and other aspects supporting academic progress — particularly for students in isolation and quarantine.
I have also referred this matter for review to our Office of Equal Opportunity and Access. These types of xenophobic comments and stigmatizations around location or ethnicity are more than troubling. We can better protect and care for all when we speak about COVID-19 with both accuracy and empathy — something we should all strive for.
University of Cincinnati’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, which the situation has been referred to, is responsible for “ensuring compliance with university policies and federal and state laws pertaining to equal opportunity and affirmative action,” reads the website. The office is also responsible for investigating and resolving complaints of discrimination.
Read about UC’s Return to Campus Guide here.
This article appears in The Meaning of Monuments.