[THREAD]: Over the past few months, I sat on a committee with UT administration about reopening UT. This thread is an overview of some of the bullshit that was said during these meetings. If you want proof that UT admin does not care about you, this is it. (1/20)

(2/20) I want to preface this thread by saying that these meetings were essentially a sham and a way to allow admin to save face and claim that they received student input on reopening decisions. They were not avenues through which real change could have taken place.

(3/20) Numerous times, students on the committee made recommendations to admin regarding housing, financial aid, etc. in light of COVID. We even advocated for closing campus if these recommendations could not be met, but NONE of our recommendations were taken into consideration.

(4/20) I've been meaning to share this info for months now, for transparency's sake, since I believe the student body deserves to know this information. It wasn't until recently where the full picture came together for me in terms of admin's intent.

(5/20) I will not be sharing the names of admin members in these meetings to prevent them and their families from getting doxxed, especially since many of them are low level admin with little say on UT's reopening decision.

(6/20) I also want to emphasize that my views may not represent the views of any organizations I am affiliated with.

(7/20) UT admin FULLY realize that students won't be social distancing/wearing masks on campus, and justified this by claiming that "20% of students will always fail to listen", not acknowledging that 20% failing to follow protocols harms the other 80%.

(8/20) This is why all this reporting shit is BS. We asked UT admin to invest in preventative measures for COVID - free face masks, universal COVID testing, free PPE for staff. They refused. In short, they want us to report so they don't have to invest in prevention.

(9/20) Not only that, but admin outright lied to us about providing PPE to staff and providing universal testing. The universal testing promise was one of the more ridiculous claims made by admin since large-scale testing isn't even occurring on the state and federal level.

(10/20) They also stated that they did not want to outline specific reasons or events that would lead to campus closure, in order to look at the situation holistically but then they released that document that listed "student death" as a possible reason for closure.

(11/20) When asked about why this info wasn't more publicly available, they argued that "students are complaining about receiving too much info" as a way to justify the lack of transparency.

(12/20) When pressed about why tuition couldn't be decreased, they claimed that tuition raises couldn't be halted since online schooling has "more costs," when UT in general had a positive net income in 2019-2020, while other schools lost money in that same period.

(13/20) On safety, they discussed many initiatives that seemed real enough to enforce safety - such as physical separations in dorms and community baths, holding and releasing students in PCL during passing periods - but won't work in practice, or are too infeasible to implement.

(14/20) Students on this committee were only given the opportunity to sit on subcommittees that worked on promoting UT's COVID efforts. We insisted on sittting on subcommittees that dealt with COVID planning, but received no response to our requests.

(15/20) When challenged on any of these points, UT admin would routinely get defensive and argue that their reopening plan was made in consultation with "public health experts." Who are these experts? And why are they advocating for policies that endanger the health of many?

(16/20) These meetings led me and other committee members to believe that UT will reopen campus solely to collect tuition, and then send students home when cases rise. They KNOW the current set up is untenable, and they're going to end up blaming students if campus closes.

(17/20) I say this because if you still think that UT is doing all it can, or if you are planning to return to campus for no particular reason, please think again. UT admin do not care about student, staff and faculty lives, and are solely interested in profitting off of them.

(18/20) If you feel helpless by UT's reopening decision, channel that into action. Protest. Organize and educate your peers on collective care and mutual aid. If you can, donate to @mutualaidatx - students will need this resource more than ever.

(19/20) More importantly, tell UT admin how you feel. Call and email the Board of Regents, President, and Provost. Only an outpouring of student support will convince them otherwise. Take action NOW - the sooner they close, the less disruptive it will be for students and staff.

(20/20) Links to contact information for UT admin:
- Board of Regents: [email protected]
- President Hartzell: [email protected], (512) 471-1232
- Provost Jaffe: [email protected], (512) 471-4363