Dionte Berry
Editor-in-Chief
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The Murray State Chapter of the United Campus Workers of Kentucky sent the “Keep All Racers Safe” petition to administrators, asking for an increase in COVID-19 precautions.

Composed of faculty, staff and student workers, the Murray State Chapter of the United Campus Workers of Kentucky is once again voicing their concerns about what they see as shortcomings of University administrators.

The petition illustrates the local Chapter’s concerns about the lack of COVID-19 precautions on campus, despite Calloway County having record-breaking case rates along with the rise of the Omicron variant.

The precautions set in place for the Spring semester are the same as the Fall 2021 semester, such as continuing to wear masks indoors and promoting vaccination. 

In their petition, the local Chapter outlines 10 steps they are asking to be followed immediately to ensure the safety of the University community. The requests being made are precautions already in place at other public Kentucky universities.

The demands are as follows:

• Reinstate the Racer Restart Committee
• Support faculty and instructors that have to move class online temporarily and allow staff the same flexibility if they are able to work remotely
• Hazard pay for all student-facing workers
• Provide two N95/KN95 masks to all campus members on a weekly basis
• Mandate weekly testing for unvaccinated Racers
• Implement a full mask mandate both indoors and outdoors
• Enforce consequences for failure to comply to masking and testing rules 
• Provide consistent and accurate COVID-19 related data
• Ensure five to 10 sick days for campus workers who test positive for COVID-19
• Create plans that consider faculty, staff and students that are suffering from the long-term effects of COVID-19

“We urge the administration to communicate candidly with the Racer community about the situation we currently face, implementing the meaningful support for students, staff and faculty that this unprecedented crisis demands,” the petition concludes.

The petition was collaboratively authored by the members of the local Chapter, one of them being Ray Horton, assistant professor of English. 

“Even when I was in graduate school, I was always supportive of academic labor movements,” Horton said. “I just believe that no matter what the status of a university worker’s relationship is with the administrators … I think workers should be organized and have a collective voice.”

Having two kids under the age of 5, Horton is looking out for himself and others in his position who have children too young to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and who could possibly get the virus through their parents.

Although Horton said he is happy to be back in the classroom with students, the fear of accidentally giving his children COVID-19 is not out of sight.

“I could seriously jeopardize my children’s health and well-being for the rest of their lives,” Horton said. “That’s something that is at the heart of what a lot of the faculty members in particular who signed this petition and who helped to write this petition are really concerned about.”

Along with Horton, Jennifer Morrison, assistant professor of public administration, played a role in drafting the petition. 

Morrison became interested in joining the local Chapter after the tornadoes that swept through Western Kentucky on Dec. 10, 2021. Morrison is familiar with university crisis response.  While she was at the University of Alabama, there was a tornado that caused destruction in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 2011.

“The University of Alabama was closed for a week after that tornado,” Morrison said. “The response by Murray State after those tornadoes right before Christmas, to me, was just appalling.”

Morrison finds continuous issues in both the University’s tornado and COVID-19 responses where they lack employee engagement and consideration. 

“I do not think that the administration really cares all that much as to how employees feel,” Morrison said. “If they did care, then they would take our comments and our requests that affect faculty, staff and student workers seriously.”  

Morrison sees the University’s lack of acknowledgement to the local Chapter’s requests as detrimental to the future of Murray State.  

“When you don’t take requests seriously, that’s when people think about leaving, and when people think about leaving, they leave,” Morrison said. “And when we leave, and we go off into our respective fields, we’re going to tell people, ‘You don’t want to work there because this is what happened when I was there.’”

This will be Morrison’s last semester as a professor at Murray State. 

Instead of outwardly acknowledging the work and concerns of the local Chapter, University administrators have expressed their satisfaction and security with the current COVID-19 guidelines in place. 

Student Government Association President Ian Puckett authored a resolution appreciating President Bob Jackson and the administration for keeping Murray State open and in-person and for their response to the December tornado.

The resolution recognizes the University’s COVID-19 vaccination rate of  65% for students and 71% for faculty and staff. It also recognizes the University’s provision of COVID-19 and booster clinics. 

The resolution addresses the issues the local Chapter has, but does so by saying that the SGA does not share the same concerns without actually acknowledging the Chapter. The resolution was unanimously passed by SGA.

Jackson’s statement streams along the same note of the SGA’s approach to the issue.

“Murray State University has operated with an important shared governance model with key constituent groups — particularly our Student Government Association, Faculty Senate and Staff Congress — each of which has representation on our Board of Regents,” Jackson wrote. “Murray State University is not unlike many other higher education institutions, with individuals who carry a variety of thoughts, perspectives and opinions often shared and discussed by these constituent groups.”

The petition is signable via the Linktree in the local Chapter’s Instagram bio @ucwkymurray..