By JORDAN GREEN, News Editor
Northwestern Student Government Association senators on Monday voted against a resolution urging the university’s administrators to cancel in-person instruction after Thanksgiving break.
The resolution, co-authored by SGA President Ethan Sacket and Secretary Dacoda McDowell-Wahpekeche, tied on a 5 – 5 vote. It fell two votes short of the two-thirds majority it needed to pass.
In the resolution, Sacket and Wahpekeche called on university officials to implement virtual learning plans after the break “to lessen the amount of positive COVID-19 cases after Thanksgiving.”
Northwestern officials say they still intend to have students return to campus from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 to finish classes and take final exams in-person. Thanksgiving break will begin Nov. 23.
“It’s basically asking them to create a plan, whether we follow through or not,” Wahpekeche said. “We felt as if there hasn’t really been a plan.”
Northwestern’s coronavirus case numbers have increased in the last two weeks, and some students say they’re concerned that returning to campus after the break would be unsafe, Wahpekeche said.
The university had a combined 36 active cases among its campuses in Alva, Enid and Woodward as of Nov. 6.
University officials have not reported the number of active cases on individual campuses.
During the hour-long meeting, senators and students spoke about their experiences with distance learning during the spring semester, when universities across the nation closed down to stop the spread of the virus.
Some questioned the university’s decision to make students return to campus after Thanksgiving break.
“Cases are on the rise,” SGA Vice President Dawson Maxwell said. “As the administration has planned, we are going to come back after Thanksgiving break for those two weeks and finish out the semester. That’s looking a little not safe.”
Several Oklahoma universities – including the state’s flagship universities, the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University – have already announced that their students will complete the fall semester in a virtual format. Some of the state’s regional universities, including Southwestern Oklahoma State University, have made similar plans.
Olivia Yandel, an SGA co-adviser and assistant director of the J.R. Holder Wellness Center, said the university will not require students to be tested for the virus after returning from the break.
“For those of you who live in the dorms, is it a concern to you that people are able to fly home and fly back and not have to worry about getting their temperature taken or having to bring back a negative test?” she asked.
Wahpekeche said students could be exposed to the virus during traditional Thanksgiving events.
“Thanksgiving, when you’re around your family – the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] has released that there needs to be a change of plans to your Thanksgiving, but knowing us, I’m not changing it,” he said.
Not all students said they were in favor of the proposed online format.
Sen. Austin Rankin said he believes students are less motivated to learn when they’re not in the classroom. He also said students may not perform as well on final exams if they’re conducted online.
“For me, it’s easier to fail to a computer than it is to a professor,” Rankin said. “I don’t feel guilty when I fail in front of a computer. But if I’m looking at the professor and failing, it’s a little bit harder.”
Sacket, who co-authored the resolution, said he shared Rankin’s concerns.
“I myself did not thrive in the online environment at all,” he said. “I think the administration and students also understand that. That’s why they pushed to have us here in-person in the fall. Just looking at what other universities are doing, that’s the main reason we brought this up.”
Sen. Collin Zink said he feels safe returning to campus after the break because university staff will sanitize and disinfect public areas of the dorms and other university buildings.
Rankin said he voted against the resolution because he believes distance learning is detrimental to some students. Instead of switching to an online format, he said he believes the university should require returning students to be tested for the coronavirus.
“The farther apart you get, the less passionate you get,” he said. “When I’m at school and I’m in class every day, it’s a lot easier to stay focused and to stay attentive to my education. When I’m separate, and even when I’m in my Zoom calls, it’s so easy to not focus and to not pay attention.”
Though the resolution failed, Sacket said he will continue to work with university administrators to develop guidelines that keep students safe.
“I think it’s important to have those conversations with the dean of students and administration,” Sacket said. “I will still have those conversations, but I am OK. I am happy with how the night went.”
MOSBURG: WE WANT TO HEAR FROM STUDENTS
Calleb Mosburg, dean of student affairs at Northwestern, said university officials are monitoring active coronavirus cases on university campuses. He said the university’s plans to resume in-person learning could change.
“We have a lot of elements that we watch, and we pay attention to what’s going on community-wise,” he said. “Numbers change within minutes or hours or seconds. That’s just something we’re continuing to watch. Right now, the plan is to come back after Thanksgiving. If those plans change, we will communicate it out to our students and our campus communities, our faculty, and our staff.”
While the resolution failed, Mosburg said he knows that some students are concerned about returning to campus. He said administrators want to hear from students, and he said they would consider what students have to say.
“We would take [the resolution] into consideration,” Mosburg said. “We’re daily looking at numbers. We’re daily watching to see how things are going. We definitely want to hear from our students. That’s not something we shut the door on or anything like that. We want to know what our students are thinking. … Without doing a knee-jerk reaction, we’re trying to look at all of the different elements and do what’s best for our campus.”
Editor’s Note: McDowell-Wahpekeche is a student reporter and circulation manager for the Northwestern News. He did not contribute to or review this story prior to publication.