To the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan:

 

The COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis that threatens the health and livelihood of the entire University of Michigan (UM) community. UM healthcare, dining, and other service workers are on the frontlines of fighting the spread of the virus. UM students and instructors have already been impacted — particularly those already vulnerable to income, food, and housing insecurity, to racist and xenophobic harassment and violence, to immigration and deportation, and with mental health and disability needs. 

 

While the University’s swift response to implement remote learning is admirable, far more must be done to contain the virus, provide care to those who need it, and support those impacted by the crisis. With a $12 billion endowment on hand, the University has ample means and the moral duty to do what is right by its students, employees, and the wider community.

 

We hereby call upon the Regents of the University of Michigan to enact the following measures:

 

1. Free medical care at the University of Michigan Hospital system

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• Free and guaranteed testing for COVID-19 for anyone who requests it.

• Free medical care for all those who test positive for COVID-19.

 

2. Housing security

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• Permit all current tenants to remain in University housing, with no evictions under any circumstances and without demonstrating proof of lacking alternatives.

• Waive any rental charges for students living in UM dormitories into the summer, due to quarantine, inability to travel, or other COVID-19 related hardship. 

• Provide emergency shelter for the houseless.

• Publicly support a freeze on mortgage payments and rent payments and ban on rental evictions during the crisis.

 

3. Financial and material security

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• Expand one-time 80-hour bank of paid time off to cover indefinite paid sick leave and paid family leave for all employees, regardless of full-time or part-time status, without deducting from normally accrued PTO.

• Guarantee full pay and benefits for all waged, salaried, and stipended workers, regardless of reduced operations, quarantine, or other extenuating circumstances. Compensate hourly workers whose duties must be reduced for the hours they would have worked in the absence of disruptions. Continue to pay independent contractors even in the disruption of work. 

• Compensate healthcare, environmental services, and food service workers with hazard pay for heightened exposure to the virus.

• Provide requisite protective gear, e.g. gloves, masks, respirators, and handwashing stations to all UM workers who must work and cannot do so remotely. 

• Provide free childcare for University of Michigan and Michigan Medicine workers, including remote workers.

• Amnesty for all outstanding UM medical bills and moratorium on billing.

• Convert existing UM employee emergency hardship grants to a Community Hardship Fund available to all Ann Arbor residents with demonstrated need.

• Allocate a portion of UM endowment to build affordable housing on UM-owned land.

• Provide pro-rated refund on housing, dining, and all other fees from March 10 onward; subsidize student travel to their permanent homes.

• Reimburse all costs incurred by students and workers ​who are asked to leave campus, including but not limited to: transportation costs; storage costs; rent for those displaced from university housing; and food and living expenses for students who lose access to meal plans.

• Provide electronic devices to UM students and workers learning remotely.

• Institute caps on university class sizes (100 per lecture, 15 per seminar) once in-person classes resume to prevent the rapid spread of virus.

 

4. Physical security and immediate care for vulnerable populations 

 

• Expand the Maize & Blue Cupboard’s operations: provide free delivered meals to all food insecure and house-bound UM students, employees, and their families who request them. Disarm campus police and redefine their job description to food delivery.

• Provide emergency shelter for the homeless on UM-owned land.

• Deny access to ICE and prohibit city police from detaining or arresting individuals on UM hospitals, campuses, and all other property.  

• Ensure that any international workers and students on visas maintain their visa status​ even if work or study is disrupted. Provide free legal council to, and cover necessary financial outlays for, students who are asked to leave the country due to changed visa status.

• Expand personnel and resources for Campus Climate Support to handle COVID-19 related incidents of racial and ethnic harassment

• Expand personnel and resources for U-M Counseling and Psychological Services to address the impact of the crisis on student mental health.

• Publicly call for the State of Michigan to improve its current hotline to respond to racist or xenophobic violence related to COVID-19, to ensure that the hotline remains anonymous, and that it does not under any circumstances lead to the caller’s detention or the involvement of law enforcement against their will

 

5. A robust public education campaign

 

• Implement a public education campaign informing the public of the University’s health and community resources against COVID-19

• Ensure that UM emergency call center answers questions about receiving free UM healthcare, meals, shelter, and emergency funds, as well as Campus Climate Support for racial and ethnic harassment. 

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SIGNED,