Hunter Students Speak Out Against In-Person Classes

 As Hunter College increases in-person classes to 70%, many students are asking that online classes remain available. 

During the pandemic students were forced to adjust to online learning. With the mandatory vaccination requirement, some students returned to in-person classes last fall. In January of 2022, the president of Hunter College, Jennifer Raab, announced that Hunter aimed to increase the percentage of in-person classes to 70%, in the upcoming spring semester. Raab stated that this decision was made “in order to align with the chancellor’s goal.” In his address, Chancellor David Banks expressed concerns about the effects that online learning had on students' mental health and that “returning to school was a big step toward returning to normalcy.”

Some Hunter students were excited to return to their teams, clubs and everything else they missed about being at Hunter. Other students didn't feel as ready to return to the campus. Kaylee Ramirez, a sophomore at Hunter College, shared her reaction to Hunter’s decision, saying, “just as we finished our first semester back in person, Omicron hit and I had a lot of friends that spent their winter break quarantining and recovering from COVID again. So coming back right after that felt way too soon.”

Ramirez was not alone in this feeling. An anonymous “CUNY Student” created a petition that circulated the Hunter student body, entitled “SAVE ONLINE CLASSES AT CUNY!!” which amassed over 25,000 signatures. It is addressed to Hunter College and Jennifer Raab, among other administrators. The petition expresses COVID-19 safety concerns. However, it also mentions the flexibility online learning gives students that have work, personal obligations and long commutes. Although the number of signatures is still growing, it is unclear whether or not the Hunter administration is taking the matter into consideration.

Change.org allows petition signers to share their reason for signing. One theme among their comments was that education is not one size fits all. Rachel George, a signer of the petition, simply said “we should have a choice.”