The University of California, Los Angeles and other UC campuses resumed in-person instruction for the first time since winter break on Monday, Jan. 31, despite the objections of some students who are fearful of returning to campus while the coronavirus pandemic rages on.
Though some students staged a sit-in outside the chancellor’s office at UCLA, a spokesman for the university, which serves about 46,000 undergraduate and graduate students, said there had been no arrests or other incidents as of early Monday evening and that university officials were in communication with the students.
There were no reports of major unrests either at UC Irvine or UC Riverside, where in-person instruction also resumed Monday. In Irvine, students and campus employees are being called on to strike on Wednesday to demand that online learning remain an option for everyone.
At UCLA, undergraduate student body President Breeze Velazquez said about 60 students gathered on Monday morning to demand that all classes include a remote instruction option. As it stands, professors may provide hybrid instruction – where students have the option to attend classes in person or online – but the university is not making it a requirement.
Students also planned to stage an overnight sit-in outside the chancellor’s office, Velazquez said. She estimated that about 50 students had gathered outside the office as of late afternoon, and for the crowd to grow to 100 to 150 students by night time.
A spokesman for UCLA said last week the decision to resume in-person learning is based on current public health conditions, including “rapidly declining” cases and test-positivity rates on campus and across L.A. County, and the fact that many staff and students have received their mandatory vaccine booster shots.
“The decision also is based on our commitment to providing the full educational experience that draws our students to UCLA and an acknowledgement that with four of the last five quarters required to be taught remotely, there is significant benefit to having students return to in-person learning and co-curricular activities,” spokesman Bill Kisliuk wrote in an email.
On Monday, county health officials reported 10,715 new coronavirus cases, which continued a weeklong trend of daily declines. Monday figures tend to be an undercount, however, due to delays in weekend reporting.
State figures, meanwhile, showed 3,720 COVID-positive patients in county hospitals – nearly 900 fewer patients than a week ago. And the county’s average daily test-positivity rate was 8.8% on Monday, down from 13.2% a week ago.
Still, in videos posted on social media, students at UCLA spoke of being concerned for themselves or others in their household who may be immunocompromised if forced to attend classes in person.
Velasquez, a senior who’s on track to graduate this year, said she intends to not attend classes if her professors refuse to provide a remote instruction option.
“At this moment, standing in solidarity with our disabled and immunocompromised students is more important,” she said.
Kisliuk said instructors have been asked to broadcast live lectures, record courses or adjust schedules for discussion sections and office hours to accommodate student needs, but such alternatives may not be appropriate for every course, he said. The university has also increased resources through its Center for Accessible Education for students seeking accommodations, he said.
Questions about whether it’s safe to return to in-person learning have been raised on college and university campuses throughout Southern California, many of which delayed in-person instruction in early January because of the fast-spreading omicron variant that has fueled this winter’s coronavirus surge.
But over the past couple of weeks, institutions have started to resume in-person instruction, prompting some faculty members and students at Pasadena City College to protest that decision recently.
Meanwhile, in response to ever-evolving pandemic conditions, UCLA, as have other schools, has updated its COVID-19 health-and-safety protocols. Students and staff on campus must undergo COVID-19 testing before returning to campus and must now wear upgraded masks, such as surgical, KN95 or N95 masks. They must also get their vaccine booster shots if eligible.
City News Service contributed to this report