As students head back to class at the University of North Texas in Denton, some are pushing for classes to be moved online as COVID-19 cases climb higher.
“That would keep people from getting sick,” said Hannah Larson, a UNT senior who started a petition appealing to the administration to offer a virtual option.
By Tuesday, the petition had received more than 2,000 signatures.
UNT senior Garrett Gantt lives with his immunocompromised parents.
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“It would take so much pressure and stress off of me,” Gantt said. “I would not have to worry about possibly bringing something home and infecting my family and what could come of that.”
In a statement released to NBC 5, UNT officials said:
UNT officials made the decision to continue the full university experience due to our later January start date and after carefully considering the impact of full remote learning on all of our students. Faculty have been asked to continue instruction in the mode that was planned for spring. This includes a mix of in-person, hybrid and online courses. With masks and vaccinations strongly encouraged, and the response to both that we have seen from the UNT community, we feel that remaining in person is the best way we can serve our students. As we did last fall, UNT will accommodate remote learning on a case-by-case basis.
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Gantt said some professors are working with him so he can attend classes virtually, but others he will have to attend in person.
“I don’t want to put myself at greater risk when it’s not necessary and I don’t believe it’s necessary in this case,” Gantt said.
UNT offers free COVID testing on campus, but masks are not required.
As of January 14, the UNT campus was reporting around 100 active COVID cases on their online dashboard.
The University of Texas System, including UT-Arlington and UT-Dallas, resumed classes this week, but classes were moved online for the first three weeks of the semester.
Texas Christian University returned to in-person classes last week.
The private university requires masks on campus.
According to TCU’s online COVID dashboard, the campus has reported more than 500 cases among students and faculty since the start of the month.
