Graduate assistants are joining some faculty in calling on Florida State University to do more to protect students and employees from COVID-19. In addition, the graduate assistant labor union sent a letter to FSU President Richard McCullough asking for more mitigation efforts.
Union President Roxie Brookshire says FSU should require students to either wear a mask, be vaccinated, learn remotely, or have frequent negative COVID-19 tests.
"There's kind of a menu of options they could choose from. I will not be able to live with myself if one of my [graduate assistants] or one of my students gets seriously ill or passes away. And I'm going to make darn sure that the administration won't be able to live with me either," Brookshire says.
FSU expects students to wear masks but is blocked by the state from requiring them. The school does have vaccination and testing sites available, in addition to isolation spaces for students who contract the virus. In a statement, the college says faculty may ask students to wear masks. If a student chooses not to, FSU says faculty can ask that student to socially distance from others.
