This letter was originally published online by the writers on Dec. 13, 2020. On Dec. 17, President Jeffrey Armstrong announced that all students, living on and off campus, are required to be tested for COVID-19 twice a week during winter quarter. As of Dec. 30, 299 people had signed the letter. The views expressed in this letter do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang News.
An open letter to the Cal Poly and SLO community:
Winter break is always a time for reflection on our past year and planning for the future. This year our planning for the Winter 2021 quarter must be guided by a sober and realistic assessment of the pandemic conditions we face. Nationally and statewide, cases have increased to record levels, with over 200,000 new infections per day in early December. Multiple regions across California have seen exponential increases in hospitalizations and ICU capacity at crisis levels. Here in San Luis Obispo County, Covid-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are all rising sharply.
In light of these conditions, the CSU Chancellor’s office has urged all campuses to delay face-to-face instruction until late January or later. Yet just last week, in contrast to CSU guidance, Cal Poly administrators affirmed that we will resume in-person instruction beginning January 4. Campus move-in times will be staggered throughout the first week of January, but no further efforts will be made to de-densify dormitories or to encourage students who can to remain at home with their families.
Cal Poly’s refusal to comply with CSU and accepted public health recommendations is nothing new. Last summer, despite CSU-wide directives, Cal Poly petitioned to populate its dorms and offer in-person classes at levels far greater than other CSU campuses. The university ignored widespread public health recommendations and proposed limiting testing to just symptomatic students. Only in response to significant public pressure — and direct intervention from the county — did the university grudgingly change course. But even then, Cal Poly failed to meet nearly every testing benchmark it set, including its promise to provide 10,000 exit tests for students before Thanksgiving break. The university offered no coherent program or incentive for off-campus students to get tested regularly.
The results are extremely disturbing. By the end of fall term, hundreds of students had been infected. The outbreak was the second worst in the entire state. Roughly 5% of all students living in Cal Poly dorms contracted Covid-19. At various points in November, a quarter of all students living in the dorms were either in isolation or some form of quarantine. Campus housing ran out of isolation beds and isolated students in a local hotel, risking exposure to hotel employees and community members. County data shows skyrocketing numbers of infections among college-age individuals, including Cal Poly students living on and off campus.
These are dangerous and disruptive conditions for community health and student success.
Cal Poly has promised more frequent testing in the winter quarter, but their current surveillance testing proposal still lags behind best practices, which call for continuous testing of all students every 1-3 days, for the entire duration of the term. Cal Poly has promised to conduct twice-a-week testing only for the first two weeks of the quarter. Given Cal Poly’s repeated failure to meet testing benchmarks this past fall, we are concerned they will fail to meet even these weak goals.
Our sister campus, Cal Poly Pomona, embraces the learn by doing motto just as we do. Cal Poly Pomona offers the same kinds of academic programs in agriculture, engineering, architecture, and science, yet Cal Poly Pomona offered only 2.6% of fall classes with in-person contact. Unlike Cal Poly SLO, which housed over 4,000 students on campus this past fall, Cal Poly Pomona housed only 500 students in dorms. Notably, fewer than 100 students, faculty, and staff at Pomona have tested positive for Covid-19.
We urge our our administrators to heed the call by the CSU Chancellor and Chancellor-select and take the following actions:
- Delay face-to-face instruction and move toward a fully virtual Winter Quarter. Most Cal State Universities have already made this same commitment to protecting campus health, including our sister school, Cal Poly Pomona. Cal Poly should delay face-to-face instruction until the end of January or later to get through the holiday surge. Because the quarter system is so short, the less disruptive action would be to commit to a fully virtual Winter Quarter.
- Further de-densify the dorms. Encourage students to complete virtual courses from their homes if they can do so safely. Cal Poly administrators have argued that students are safer when they are living under university supervision, but the outbreak in the dorms this past fall throws doubt on that assertion. Now is the time to minimize congregate living in the county.
- Guarantee at least twice weekly student testing prior to having students back on campus. Students need to be tested 2-3x a week consistently, starting in the first week and continuing through the entire duration of the quarter. Frequent testing can swiftly detect outbreaks and enable the contact tracing and quick isolation necessary to limit further spread.
With a surge in cases driven by the holidays, hospital beds and ICUs filling across the state and country, and effective vaccines on the horizon, the only ethical choice is to delay in-person instruction, drastically reduce the number of students in congregate housing, and dramatically expand testing and contact tracing. Hopefully, the general population will receive the vaccine(s) by late spring, and may reach levels of community protection by summer.
We all look forward to when we can be back together. As a public institution of higher education, Cal Poly has a moral duty to help our community make it through this crisis. Thus far, Cal Poly has not taken this obligation seriously. Let’s do better in 2021. (Sign the letter here)
Signed,
Candace Winstead, Faculty, Biological Sciences
Sandi Clement, Faculty, Biological Sciences
Christy Strand, Faculty, Biological Sciences
Charles A. Knight, Faculty, Biological Sciences
Gita Kolluru, Faculty, Biological Sciences
Heather Liwanag, Faculty, Biological Sciences
Grace Goschke, Faculty, Biological Science
Nishanta Rajakaruna, Faculty, Biology/Housing
Alejandra Yep, Faculty, Biological Sciences
Jennifer N. Phillips, Postdoctoral Researcher, Biological Sciences
Ashley McDonald, Faculty, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Brenda Helmbrecht, Faculty, English
Lewis Call, Faculty, Professor of History / California Faculty Association SLO President
Sarah Bridger, Faculty, History Department
Stan Yoshinobu, Faculty, Math Department
Charles D. Camp, Faculty, Mathematics
Brett Bodemer, Faculty, Kennedy Library
Kaila Bussert, Faculty, Library
Anonymous, Faculty, College of Science and Mathematics
Anonymous, Faculty
Neal MacDougall, Faculty, Agribusiness Department
M. Bodemer, Faculty, History lecturer
Colleen Marlow, Faculty, Physics
Christopher Culbreath, Faculty, Physics
Marilyn Tseng, Faculty, Kinesiology and Public Health
Katharina Gillen, Faculty, Physics
David Mitchell, Faculty, Physics & Liberal Studies
Erin Pearse, Faculty, Mathematics
Alice Hamrick, Staff, Biological Sciences
Anonymous, Student, Biological Sciences
Anonymous, Alumni
Anonymous, Staff
Anonymous, Staff, Housing
Ahmed Deif, Faculty, ITP, OCOB
Ryan Anthony Hatch, Faculty, English
Julee Bauer, Faculty, School of Education
Alison Stevens, Staff
Anonymous, Faculty
Harvey Greenwald, Emeritus, Mathematics
Adrienne Greve, Faculty, City and Regional Planning
Briana Ronan, Faculty, School of Education
Morgan White, Faculty, English
Anonymous, Staff and Student, Biological Sciences
Paul Marchbanks, Faculty, English
Luanne Fose, Staff, CTLT
Caleb Nichols, Staff, Kennedy Library
Sarah Lester, Faculty, Kennedy Library
Anonymous, Staff, Office of the Registrar
Christine, Staff
Steven Ruszczycky, Faculty, English, Women’s & Gender Studies
Anonymous, Staff
Molly Loberg, Faculty, History Department
Jay Devore, Emeritus Faculty, Statistics
Jason Peters, Faculty, English
Anonymous, Faculty
Jason Linn, Faculty, History lecturer
Anonymous, Faculty, Mathematics
Anonymous, Staff, Campus Student Health/ Well-being
Anonymous, Staff, Campus Health & Wellbeing
Chad Immoos, Faculty, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Vardha N. Bennert, Faculty, Physics
Lizabeth Thompson Schlemer, Faculty, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Vickie Bryant, Community home owner, Resident of SLO
Mike Didonna, Person
Michael, Community member
Eric LeRoy, community
Todd Pierce, Faculty, English
Anonymous, SLO resident
Kristi Weddige, Staff, CSM Student Services
Margaret Haugen, Staff, Campus health and well-being
Brad Campbell, Faculty, English
Marin Smith, Faculty, English lecturer
Anonymous, SLO resident
Catherine Waitinas, Faculty, English
Anonymous, Staff, Campus Health & Well-Being
Anonymous, Faculty
Anonymous, Staff
Cal Poly Staff and SLO Resident, Riley Chestnut
Audrey Garces, Alumni, Biological Sciences
Daniel Howes, Faculty, BRAE
Javier de la Fuente, Faculty, Industrial Technology & Packaging
Cameron Jones, Faculty, History Department
James Mealy, Faculty, Electrical Engineering
Marion Hart, Faculty, WLC / COMS lecturer
Hugh Smith, Faculty, CSSE
Anonymous, Faculty, PHIL
Kelly Main, Faculty, City and Regional Planning
Robert D Clark, Faculty, Kinesiology & Public Health
Daniel Almeida, Faculty, School of Education
John Saghri, Faculty – Professor, Electrical Engineering Dept.
Alan L. Kiste, Faculty, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Bruno Ribeiro, Faculty, Graphic Communication
Anonymous, Faculty, CH&W Counseling Services
John Hagen, Faculty, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Erica Fryer, Staff, Office of the Registrar
Debora Schwartz, Faculty, English
Andrew Byrne, Faculty, School of Education
Ben Lutz, Faculty, Mechanical Engineering
Kris Jankovitz, Faculty, Kinesiology & Public Health
Lecturer, Faculty, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Anonymous, Staff
Anonymous, Faculty
Martine Lappé, Faculty, Social Sciences Department
Amber Williams, Faculty, Psychology & Child Development
Jean Williams, Faculty, Political Science
Paul Hiltpold, Faculty, Emeritus
Dylan Armitage, Spouse of grad student
Ray Fernando, Faculty, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Jafra Thomas, Faculty, Dpt. Kinesiology & Public Health
Francis Villablanca, Faculty, CSM
Terry Brogno, SLO resident
Anonymous, Faculty
Elizabeth Adan, Faculty, WGS / ISLA
Tony Prado, Faculty, Journalism
Kenichiro Kurihara, Partner of Staff, Campus health and well-being
H. Palandoken, Faculty, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Yiwen Chiu, Faculty, CAFES
Isabell Hope Garcia, Faculty, English
Grace Yeh, Faculty, Ethnic Studies/Communication Studies
Karen Muñoz-Christian, Faculty, World Languages & Cultures
Lorraine Donegan, Faculty, Graphic Communication
Anonymous, Student, Psychology
Janine Marion, Community Healthcare worker
Lynne Oliverius, Community member
Robert Campbell, MD, Retired physician, SLO County Health Commission Member, Community resident
Michael Wollman, Faculty, Electrical Engineering
Laura Ríos, Faculty, physics
Joe Fram, Citizen of SLO, Engineering (retired)
Leah Nielsen, community member
Laura Cooper, Community member, business owner
Anonymous, Faculty
Anonymous, Staff, CHW
Anonymous, Faculty, CAFES
Nick Bryden, Staff, Financial Aid Office
Anonymous, Faculty, Animal Science
Anonymous, Staff, Kennedy Library
Jim McKrell, Alumni, CE
C.T. Aradanas, Faculty, Ethnic Studies / Social Sciences
Jennifer Bates, Faculty, English
Kylie Parrotta, Faculty, Social Sciences
Suzanne Phelan, Faculty, Kinesiology & Public Health
Chris Cooper, resident of San Luis Obispo
Anonymous, Faculty, College of Science and Mathematics
Peggy Papathakis, Faculty, Food Science and Nutrition
Olivia Wallin, Student
Anonymous, Faculty, Biology
Anonymous, Faculty, OCOB/Accounting
Julie Rodgers, Faculty, psychology
Connor Ellis, Student, History major
Anonymous, community member
Anonymous, Student, Wvit
Randy Harris, Retired SLO resident
Jeziel Lopez, Student, Electrical Engineering
Catherine Franklin, Graduate
Caleb Armendariz, Student, Biological Sciences Major
Anonymous, Student, NRES
Karan Singh, Student, Electrical Engineering
Jillian, Local alumni, Psychology
Anonymous, Student
Kailey Cox, Cal Poly Alum/SLO resident
Elizabeth Sine, Faculty, History Department
Camille O’Bryant, Faculty, Kinesiology and Public Health/CSM
Jeong-Ah Lee, Faculty, Physics
Johanna Rubba, Emerita, English
Lauren Kolodziejski, Faculty, Communication Studies
Nathan Perry, Faculty, History Department
Anonymous, Both Faculty and Staff
Ren Blanding, Student, CLA
Anonymous, Staff
Sarah Horne, Staff, Office of the Registrar
Cole Coward, Student, English
A concerned mustang alumni
Student, Computer Science
Aaron H, Student
Don Choi, Faculty, Architecture
Jessica Garcés, Student, English
Anonymous, Student
Katie Champ, Student, NRES
Madison Parrot, Student, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Anonymous, Student, Child Development
Anonymous, Staff, Campus Health & Wellbeing
Anonymous, Student
Anonymous, Student
Jonathan Bartel, Faculty, English
Rosemary Wrenn, Faculty, SOE/LS
Anonymous, Student, CE
Connie Hanretty Church, Faculty, Psychology
Eric J. Kantorowski, Faculty, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Farah Al-Nakib, Faculty, History
Erin Martin Elston, Faculty, English Lecturer
Michael J. Costello, Faculty, Wine and Viticulture Department
Cassandra Sherburne, Staff
Anonymous, Student
Steve Klisch, Faculty, Mechanical Engineering
Charith Sunku, Student, Engineering
Paul Miklowitz, Faculty, CLA/Philosophy
Anonymous, Student
Amanda Adelman, Alumni
Anonymous, Student
Sue Brock, Faculty Emeritus, Communication Studies
R.G. Cravens, Faculty, Political Science
Bruce Rogstad, Student, Electrical Engineering
Seth Gibeaut, community member
Kira Boyd, Student, Psychology
Anonymous, Faculty, College of Science and Mathematics/Math
Gabriel Anderson, Student, Experience Industry Management
Daniel Kirkpatrick, Alumni, Computer Science
Anonymous, Faculty, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Diego Manuel Chavez, Student, Orfalea College of Business
Jose Alvarado, Staff, Strawberry Center/ CAFES- Also Resident of SLO
Andy Sazima, Student, Civil Engineering
Amani Arora, Student
John Thompson, Faculty, World Languages and Cultures
Kevin Fagan, Faculty, World Languages and Cultures
Suhyun Lee, Student
Dan B, Student
Anonymous, Student
Aubrie Adams, Faculty, Communication Studies
Taylor Smith, Faculty, Psychology and Child Development
Jessica Kaczorowski, Faculty, PSY/CD
Ryan Solorzano, Student, Computer Science
Charmaine Martinez, Faculty, Art and Design
Emily Vose, Community member
Jared Friedman, Student, NRES
Anonymous, Student, Business
Kristen Lewis, Student, Biology
Pete Nisburg, Student, Gender Studies
Jorge Coronel, Student
Hai Tri Tran, Student, AERO
Victor Valle, Faculty, Ethnic Studies
Sophia Forster, Faculty, English
CMK, Concerned alumnus and SLO local
Anonymous, Faculty
Anonymous, Student, CS
Anonymous, Student, Orfalea College of Business
Mary García-Lemus, Faculty, Psychology
Dae Jin Park, Student, Mechanical Engineering
Anonymous, Student, College of Engineering
Anonymous, Student, EE
Tyler Sanchez, Student
Sarah Zukoff, Faculty, Strawberry Center
David Zoller, Faculty, Philosophy
Brian S. Balberchak, Alumni, Computer Engineering
David Kann, Emeritus Faculty, English
Anonymous, Staff, UNIT 9
Nicole Rivera, Staff and Student, ISLA
Anonymous, Student, Orfalea College of Business
Mercedes Rutherford-Patten, Staff, Library
Kim Bisheff, Faculty, Journalism
C. Ritch Woffinden, Faculty, Communication Studies
Madeleine Ignon, Lecturer, Art
Anonymous, Student, Civil Engineering
Anonymous, Student, EE
Kelsey Davis, Staff, Journalism
Anuraj Dhillon, Faculty, Communication Studies Department
Laura Cacciamani, Faculty, Psychology & Child Development
Marc Horney, Faculty, CAFES/ASCI
Heather L. Cribbs, Faculty, Kennedy Library
Anonymous, Faculty, Kinesiology & Public Health
Anonymous, Student
Carrie Langner, Faculty, Psychology
Anonymous, Parent
Jeff Nadel, Staff, College of Engineering
Jason Chang, Student, ME
Madison Watson, Student
Matt Beekman, Faculty, Physics Department
Belen Areli Padilla, Student, Psychology
April Olvera Dominguez, Student, CAFES
Mariely Caraballo, Student, EE
Anders M. Bjork, Student, Engineering
Anonymous, Student
Anonymous, Retired community member
Maria Lopez Neri, Student, CAFES
Richa Gadgil, Student, Computer Science
Anonymous, Student, Psychology
Anonymous, Student
Manuela Cruz, Student, COSAM
Michael Pasetta, Parent of a Student
Olivia Miele, Student, Orfalea College of Business
Milo Cohen, Student, Aerospace Engineering
David Gillette, Faculty, LAES/English
Katie McCormick, Faculty, Art and Design
Anonymous, Faculty, Engineering
Pete Schwartz, Faculty, Physics
Anna Kelly, Faculty, SOE
Anonymous, Parent
T Onuma, parent
Sean Green, Faculty, English
Adrian Tenney, Student, Landscape Architecture, Cal Poly Pomona
Parent
Parent, Engineering
Anonymous, Student, English department
Kathy Mastako, Staff Emeritus, Community member
Anahi Diaz, Student, Biology
Glen Gillen, Faculty, Physics Department
Anonymous, Student
Jo Nibbio, Community member
Anonymous, Faculty, CAFES
Gabriella Richardson, Student, Biological Sciences
Anonymous, Parent, EE
