Beginning on Monday, September 13, AAUP members and students at CSU and across Georgia gathered to peacefully demonstrate their concerns and dissatisfaction with the current COVID-19 guidelines in USG institutions. The CSU demonstrations, which consisted of five 20-minute gatherings, took place on the lawn east of Woodall hall and lasted until Friday, 17.  

   The purpose of the demonstrations, according to an email sent out to AAUP colleagues, is “to give concerned members of the CSU community an opportunity to stand up and say that what CSU is doing around COVID is dangerous and wrong, and to draw attention to our concerns.” 

    During the September 16 demonstration, participants consisted of CSU staff, faculty, and students. Demonstrators held up signs stating “Protect our campus!” and “Require universal indoor masking! Protect my unvaxed kids,” referring to children under 12 being able to receive the vaccine despite remaining susceptible to it. 

   “Those who have the vaccine can still pass on the new variant. And so, that’s why the recommendation is for universal indoor masking. And why making it a personal choice for an individual’s health isn’t really the issue,” said Dr. Andrew Puckett, an Earth and Science professor at CSU. “This is about public health and the whole community.”

   Demonstrators also handed out flyers to interested by-passers detailing why faculty, staff, and students are demonstrating, the dangers of COVID-19, and the AAUP’s next steps. 

  “It is vital that we come together as a community to let the USG and CSU leadership know that, in keeping with CSU’s Core Values, we value each other’s lives and well-being,” the flyer read.

  The flyer also provided a graphic emphasizing the steadily increasing self-reported COVID-19 cases at CSU.  According to the flyer, between August 23, 2021, and August 30, 2021, “active cases at CSU have increased by at least 20%.”

  The AAUP plans to continue to conduct more demonstrations until universities in the USG system acknowledge their calls to action. This includes reinstating indoor mask mandates, requiring vaccination for all faculty, staff, and students, and allowing faculty to conduct classes in a way that best meets the needs of their students, among other things. 

   For more information concerning demonstrations, visit the AAUP website.