The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Of the 36,000 undergraduate students enrolled at the University of Arizona this semester, roughly 6,000 of them live in on-campus housing. And of those living off campus, thousands are grouped in high-rises, sororities and fraternities in the immediate vicinity of campus. Congregate settings like those are known COVID-19 breeding grounds. The UA has no mandatory testing policy in place for off-campus students.
Over the past 2 months, I have been directly involved with testing students living in those off-campus settings. Last month we saw COVID positivity rates running north of 30% in some of the buildings. At that same time, Pima County testing operations uncovered rates in excess of 50% in some private apartment complexes, and above 80% in some off-campus Greek settings. Unchecked, that student population living out in our community creates a public-health emergency.
To be clear, university leadership has done a credible job of managing on-campus spread. The voluntary testing programs, wastewater epidemiology, facilities management ‘COVID-busters’, mask-up policies and tracing efforts being conducted through campus health are models for other universities to follow. And yet there are thousands of students who are living out of the campus bubble. That is a model for creating a resurgence of infections.
By virtue of the contract signed between students and the institution, the UA can compel testing. All students living in on-campus dorms were required to test negative prior to moving in. I requested that the mayor and City Council adopt a nonbinding resolution stating our belief that the UA should require all students present evidence of having tested negative before taking part in classes. Last Tuesday, the mayor and council voted down that resolution on a 5-1 vote.
In the run-up to the council meeting, the UA “made the rounds,” calling the mayor and council offices urging a “no” vote. Even Tucson business leaders contacted ward offices suggesting that if we passed my resolution, it might hurt the UA’s recruitment efforts. It’s the optics. But that does not remove the public-health threat.
The mayor invited a representative of the UA president’s team to address the council during our meeting. He referred to my effort at securing the resolution as “pandering” and not public health. He also said mandatory testing is “unconstitutional.”
Mandatory testing has been implemented at Clemson, Illinois, Rhode Island and other universities. The state of Arizona still operates under the same Constitution as does the rest of the country. The city attorney affirmed the legality of mandatory testing. Requiring a COVID-19 test as a part of the matriculation contract is not “unconstitutional.”
Pandering? Suggesting that is offensive to the Tucson residents who live in the neighborhoods surrounding campus and beyond, who have invested in this community, who have supported the UA and who deserve to have their liberty to safely move about in this city respected through a thorough testing program. And that request being registered by the city governing body only reflects poorly on the UA if it is ignored.
Many students are now refusing to be tested because they don’t want to be forced to isolate if they test positive. At 20 years of age, that’s a reasonable roll of the dice, if you’re the only person affected by the outcome. Residents of this community are affected and I continue to believe the UA can, and should implement a protocol that requires students to present a negative COVID-19 test result within 72 hours of returning to classes in January.
That’s not pandering. That is responsible public-health policy.
