CUNY has recently announced that they will be increasing the amount of in-person classes across all CUNY colleges. The spring semester will mark the return of in-person classes as the dominant instruction mode. The noticeable erasure of online classes has alarmed many students, especially those who seek online classes for its flexibility. At the height of the covid-19 pandemic, CUNY involuntarily went remote. After many months of taking online classes, students have grown accustomed to the online atmosphere and even preferred it over in-person. Online classes are essential at CUNY because many students have to work, they have family and/or personal obligations, and issues with commuting, etc. Online courses give students the chance to simultaneously do well in their class and take care of themselves and/or their personal issues. Furthermore, the Delta variant is still spreading among the population and Omicron is now emerging as a more serious variant. Due to recent budget cuts, CUNY is not well-equipped to provide students with a one-hundred percent safe initiative to continue offering more in-person. Though there is a vaccine and testing requirement, as well as a mask mandate, we are still having issues with infrastructure and ventilation. 

Please, if you are a student who sees the action of reverting almost all classes from online/hybrid to in-person unnecessary, sign this petition and let your voices be heard. We are CUNY students and collective power is everything we need in this present moment! 

LET’S BRING BACK ONLINE CLASSES!