August 21, 2020

A Letter from West Campus Student Staff

At first glance, the Cornell COVID-19 modeling team’s August 5 update appears to be an impressive attempt
to accommodate the evolving situation of the pandemic. However, West Campus student staff have
experienced how the reality on the ground falls short of the University’s ambitious promises of a science-
backed plan for the safety of our community. These gaps between the plan and its implementation must be
addressed for the health and safety of our community. We ask the University, given its repeated assertions
that it prioritizes public health, to act swiftly to resolve the issues discussed in this letter.

During the first wave of student arrivals starting August 17, West Campus staff have observed numerous
limitations of the Frazier model and Cornell’s reactivation plan. Testing emerged as the clearest inconsistency,
as a number of students were allowed to move into residence halls without testing. Many students have
resorted to walk-in testing in the days following their arrival after being unable to schedule a testing
appointment on the day of their move-in. Though University officials insist that move-in has been consistent
with its plans, what we are seeing is far from the promised plans.

In the absence of procedures for how to deal with the model’s limitations, we as West Campus student staff
feel that we are not adequately trained or prepared to implement Cornell’s reactivation plan. Importantly, this
is not the fault of our immediate supervisors, the Assistant Deans or the House Professor-Deans of West
Campus. Given the lack of information and clarity they have received from Student and Campus Life, we are
confident that they have produced the best training for us possible. They have been supportive when we
brought our concerns to them. They have advocated for us tirelessly to upper administration, but seemingly
to no avail. We write this letter because there seems to be no other recourse.

The first wave of arrivals on August 17 had far fewer students than those arriving this Sunday, yet it already
showed Cornell’s lack of preparedness. We have little confidence right now that the University can scale up
this plan in a way that safeguards our community’s safety for the hundreds of students who will be arriving
then. To the broader community: we do not feel adequately prepared to handle this pandemic in our
residence halls. We worry for your safety and ours.

We ask that the University consider and act upon the following demands for the safety of all members of our
community. We believe that these changes must be implemented before the mass arrival of students starting
on August 23. Additionally, we stand in solidarity with fellow student workers on both North and South
Campus and ask that the University meet their demands immediately.

Demands

1. Clarification of Surveillance Testing for All Workers Entering the Residence Hall: According to
Cornell’s COVID testing program plan announced August 20, surveillance testing will begin September 2.
This date is too late to detect the spread after move-in. Student and student staff testing must begin
immediately after the August 23 move-in. Cornell’s communication and their epidemiological model are
contingent upon frequent testing of the entire community. However, Cornell has neglected to create an
accountability system for other workers who enter the residence halls. Whereas students are held
accountable through reporting in the Behavioral Compact, other employees entering the residence hall
cannot be held accountable. We ask that Cornell guarantee surveillance testing for all live-in residential
staff, any live-in family members, and non-live-in staff who work in the residence halls (e.g. administrative
coordinators, dining staff, facilities staff, and building care staff) who, by virtue of their frequent contact
with residents, are at higher risk of infection and becoming vectors. Furthermore, the administration ought
to provide or mandate testing frequency options for those with intersectional roles on campus. For
example, GRFs are both graduate students and Cornell staff. Because they have the same exposure as an
undergraduate, they ought to be tested with the same frequency.
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2. Testing for Live-in Family Members: All live-in family members of residential life staff must be
included in all COVID-related healthcare services. Currently, Cornell has left off live-in family members
from daily health screenings (Daily Check). Additionally, it is unclear if live-in family members qualify for
on-campus surveillance testing unless they are current Cornell students. These integral members of West
Campus must be included in reporting, testing, and treatment to maintain the integrity of Cornell’s
“aggressive surveillance testing protocol.”

3. PPE: Risks associated with our job have increased without commensurate provision of additional personal
protective equipment (PPE) to West Campus residential life staff beyond that given to all students, or any
indication as to whether this will be provided. Individual teams have been put in the position of procuring
materials on their own. Given that we are frontline essential staff interacting with many students (including
those who have come from a travel advisory state and thus quarantining in their dorm room), we believe
that the administration must provide proper PPE to all residential life staff. These PPE include: masks that
can filter coronavirus aerosol particles; face shields; gloves; disinfecting wipes; and single-use PPE for
handout to residents who might need them. PPE needs to be available immediately before students move
in to West Campus this weekend.

4. Accountability Mechanism: Charged with the enforcement of the Behavioral Compact, the Cornell
Compact Compliance Team (C3T) has yet to be implemented despite the increasing presence of students,
both on- and off-campus. In this crucial moment when students returning to campus are being socialized
into COVID-appropriate behaviors, C3T is currently not monitoring or enforcing the Behavioral
Compact (of either students or the building staff mentioned in Point 1), a key assumption of the Frazier
model. We need the C3T implemented today, ahead of the upcoming move-in. Additionally, we need clear
direction and training on the integration of this team within West Campus’ established protocols for
reporting Behavioral Compact violations.

5. De-densification: All dormitory buildings on Cornell’s campus must be significantly de-densified in

accordance with scientific research and epidemiological guidance that suggest that only de-densification of
dense living situations (such as college dormitories) will prevent outbreaks. At a minimum we expect that
this will involve conversion of all doubles to singles and reducing overall density to 50 percent of pre-
COVID capacity. We must continue to de-densify in order to reduce the number of students sharing
common facilities, such as bathrooms, laundry rooms, and kitchens.

6. Contingency Plans for Outbreaks: Cornell has yet to reveal detailed contingency plans in the likely
event of outbreaks in its residence halls. The high density of the living conditions in our residences
promises to exacerbate any level of infection that occurs, and we are asking for transparency regarding
isolation facilities in the event of an outbreak. If a detailed and explicit plan is not in place, mistakes will be
made, and outbreaks may become unstoppable.

7. Hazard Pay for All Workers: All residential life workers must be compensated with hazard pay. This
includes student residential staff, professional residential staff, dining staff, facilities staff, and building care
staff. Despite last-minute efforts by West Campus workers and leadership to come up with protocols to
ensure the safety of residential life staff, the current working conditions remain hazardous and pose a risk
to our well-being. We believe that Cornell must provide hazard pay to its frontline essential staff who are
risking our health in implementing Cornell’s reactivation plan. In addition, we ask that COVID safety
protocols be extended to building care and maintenance staff who keep Cornell running.

Respectfully submitted,

West Campus Student Staff