On Tuesday, faculty and staff at both Iowa State and the University of Iowa participated in an “Iowa Sickout,” pledging to call in sick from classes in protest of the way the universities are handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, participants pushed for a complete switch to online classes. I appreciate where the protest is coming from and agree that the state of Iowa has botched its coronavirus response, but I did not participate in the sickout, and for a couple of reasons.  

I want to preface this by saying that I’m very privileged to have been largely unscathed by coronavirus so far. I’m not in a high-risk group, and I live with people who are mostly on the same page as me in terms of what risks we are and aren’t willing to take. I feel very safe going to class — but I understand not everyone feels that way.  

However, it’s been my experience that the professors at Iowa State are very flexible and supportive of allowing students to participate in a way that feels safe to them. I have three fully online classes and three in-person classes, and in each of those “live” classes, measures have been taken to still deliver course material virtually for students who may not be comfortable or able to attend class in person. I also personally know students that are opting out of attending any classes in person because they don’t feel safe, and their professors have been accommodating.

I think the hybrid, flexible take on course delivery that Iowa State has opted for this semester is the right choice. It’s important to acknowledge that we ARE in a pandemic and that class attendance and participation is going to look different this semester.

Having said that, there are also benefits to in-person classes that shouldn’t be ignored, either. Personally, I feel that I gain a lot from seeing my peers and professors in person, from being engaged in a traditional classroom setting to getting out of my house and walking to and from campus. Regardless of how much effort professors and students put in, the quality of online classes is just not the same as when it’s in person. 

Beside that, let’s be realistic here — the spread of coronavirus through our student body is not coming from campus. The large spike in positivity rates that put Ames at the top of the New York Times’ list of new cases came two weeks after “801 day,” when Welch Ave. was flooded with students disregarding any form of social distancing.

Even after the bars closed at the end of August, there’s only so much the university can do to curtail student socializing and partying off-campus. When I walk around campus everyday and see students keeping 6 feet apart and wearing masks, and then I come home at night and hear my next-door neighbors throwing a rager, it’s difficult to believe that any spread of the virus is actually coming from in-person classes. 

All this is just to say that if Iowa State was going to bring back students at all, I’m glad that at least some of my classes are in person. And I will not be participating in any future sickouts. It’s certainly possible that other students have had very different experiences, but I have found my professors to be accommodating and flexible during these unprecedented times, and I genuinely feel much safer on campus than I do in the off-campus community.

It’s really easy to feel overwhelmed by the chaos that is engulfing us this year; going to class is a piece of normalcy in the madness. Let’s not take that away.