KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ A student group at the University of Kansas is calling for a strike as reported coronavirus cases on campus number nearly 550.
Jayhawker Liberation Front, a student-run club, is calling on students to stay home from their classes on Monday, which is Labor Day, to demand that the campus move to remote learning.
"Our institutions have failed us," the club leaders tweeted. "(The University of Kansas) has put profits over the people. Enough is enough."
As of Thursday, the university reported 546 cases after testing 22,563 people, which included all students, faculty and staff, ahead of the start of the semester. This makes for a positive test rate of 2.42% at the onset of the semester. University officials have said they plan to continue with more targeted testing of smaller groups as the semester continues.
KU Chancellor Doug Girod has said it is "unlikely" campus will close in the future.
Jayhawker Liberation Front leaders posted on Twitter: "Students have asked for more protection. Faculty/staff have voiced fears. Local publications have been vocal against the re-opening. Despite overwhelming concerns, campus re-opened."
They said the university has ignored these pleas.
A successful strike, the students Tweeted, "would send a firm message to administration that our lives are not their expendable playthings; that we are not simply an avenue through which they make money."
The group, which describes itself as "a club working for the liberation of people through the dismantling of capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy at KU and beyond," is also asking students to sign a petition demanding that the campus close.
Students have been left to fend for themselves, reads the petition addressed to Girod and Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer.
"As members of our respective communities, we must collectively demand that our safety and financial security is guaranteed," the petition reads. "This means that by signing this petition, we will sacrifice our individual interests for the greater good of the community by demanding that campus closes."
As of Sunday afternoon, more than 500 people had signed the petition.
The student group is also asking that the university provide exit testing for all students free of charge and provide university housing to students in need, among other demands.
"The initial shutdown on March 17th occurred with ZERO cases at the University of Kansas and only one case in Douglas County," the students wrote in the petition.
"If those circumstances were enough to shut down campus, the rapidly increasing number of cases both within the KU community and the Lawrence community should be an alarming prompt to shut down the campus in a safe and effective manner."
