Iowa Student Action and UIowa Sickout have partnered together to have a “sickout” Tuesday to protest against in-person classes.

Organizers for Iowa State’s portion of the event said lives are being put at risk as long as classes continue to be held in person.

“We’re doing what is necessary at this point to reach the administrators and Board of Regents because they have not been listening to students before this,” they said. “It’s life and death, and we’re standing with all community members who are afraid right now.”

They also said they believe finances play a huge role in the decision-making process.

“The Board of Regents and Wendy Wintersteen made the decision to open, prioritizing their own profit and not the health and safety of the community,” they said. “They knew it would be unsafe to reopen but did so anyway. They care more about our tuition money and residence hall money than our lives.”

Alexa Rodriguez, a junior in political science and member of Iowa Student Action, was hospitalized with COVID-19 earlier this year.

“Thousands of people across the state have gotten sick because the Board of Regents chose to reopen campus before it was safe,” Rodriguez said in a press release. “People are suffering and people are dying. We’re calling in sick to demand that all classes get moved online so we can save lives.”

“I’m terrified to go to my in-person class,” Rodriguez said. “The only reason why we haven’t shut down is because President Wintersteen and the Board of Regents are trying to milk us for every last cent of tuition first. I’m already in massive amounts of debt for this degree, but now they want me to risk my life, too.”

She said that to protect students, staff, faculty and the Iowa City and Ames communities, classes need to be moved online immediately.

“The Regents and administrators who run our schools know that this crisis isn’t going anywhere, but they refuse to use their power to protect students and families,” Rodriguez said. “We need to move all classes online right now to save the lives of students, staff and everyone who has made Ames and Iowa City their home.”

Kajsa Hallberg, graduate student in apparel, events and hospitality management, said that while she supports the idea of the protest, she finds it difficult to believe that the event will have much of an impact on administration.

“I think the sickout is a great idea, and I’m always supportive of strikes, walkouts, the like as a way to push for better or fairer conditions,” Hallberg said. “However, I have doubts as to the effectiveness of this one. A large majority of classes are already hybrid or online, and there’s no way the university will go fully online or even send people home before the cutoff date for refunds. I definitely believe the administration is just holding out until the university is no longer obligated to provide refunds to students, especially after the massive funding cut from the state.”

The sickout comes the day after Iowa State, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa announced new academic schedules for spring semester, including the cancellation of spring break.