A group of students at the University of Waterloo (UW) have penned an open letter to administration demanding the institution meet certain standards of care due to its ‘silence and inaction about the ongoing health crisis.’

Their group, called the Covid Action, Response and Equity (CARE) Coalition UW, is made up of about 10 students attending the university.

“What we’re really hoping for is a more proactive response to the ongoing pandemic,” said Ryan Tennant, a member of the coalition who has attended UW for nearly a decade. “Our letter highlights, in a really reasonable way, what the institution can help us to do to better meet our expectations.”

Maya Adachi, another member of the coalition and a master’s student at UW, said she’s noticed a lot of absentees in her classes due to illness, colleagues who have called in sick because of a lack of hybrid options, and professors and students attending classes in-person in spite of their feelings of illness.

“I think it’s very important to have those voices highlighted and for the senior administration to listen to students, their faculty and their employees,” said Adachi. “We are a community, and we should emphasize that you’re not alone when you feel this way.”

The CARE Coalition’s demands include improved communication about COVID-19, indoor air quality measures, ongoing monitoring of and response to COVID-19-related risks, and measures to support equity, accessibility and inclusion.