So what to call this? Selective use abuse of “science”? Bowing to educators? Blatant dishonesty? Money-grubbing? Sheer hypocrisy? Wait — I think I’ve got it. Let’s go with all of the above — and then some.
Michigan State University won’t allow in-person learning until the final day of January, but at the same time has had zero problem with opening the Breslin Center arena to nearly 15,000 screaming fans for every Spartans home basketball game this month. Shocked? Me, neither.
Michigan State University president Samuel L. Stanley Jr. announced in a December 31 letter that the school’s spring 2022 semester would begin on Jan. 10 virtually and continue to be remote-learning until Jan. 31, as reported by Breitbart. The letter read, in part:
Earlier this week I wrote to you about the start of the Spring 2022 semester and updated you on what had been reported on our campus and in the surrounding region with cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
I promised that we would continue to monitor the situation in mid-Michigan and beyond for any changes in the pandemic that required new actions. In the 48 hours since that note went out, a surge in cases has been reported, presumably due to the Omicron variant, with the state of Michigan reaching an all-time high in cases per day.
Given this intense surge in cases, we now feel the best decision for our campus is to start classes primarily remotely on Jan. 10 and for at least the first three weeks of the semester.
For those who were planning to move back to our residence halls next week, they will still be open and available. Some students may choose to remain in their other homes or locations during these weeks of online classes, and that is fine.
“I realize that students prefer to be in person, and so do I, Stanley wrote. “But it is important that we do so in a safe manner. Starting the semester remotely and de-densifying campus in the coming weeks can be a solution to slowing the spread of the virus.”
“De-densifying”? I see.
Apparently, packing 15,000 screaming fans into a basketball arena for every game of the season is part of Michigan State’s “de-densifying” strategy.
As noted by Breitbart, Michigan State University’s remote-learning mode requires all faculty, staff, and students to wear face coverings indoors. The university also mandates that all faculty, staff, and students be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as well as “receive their booster if and when they are eligible.”
“Booster.” Makes me snicker a bit inside every time I see the misused term — as does “vaccine.”
So while Michigan State students (who don’t attend Michigan State basketball games) will remain “safe and secure” in their cocooned, remote-learning, two vaccines-and-a-booster world, 15,000 Michigan State basketball fans, along with players and coaches on both teams, concession-stand workers, ushers, and TV and radio crews will tragically subject themselves to the horror of a “winter of severe illness and death.”
Those who aren’t masked, “fully vaccinated” with two shots, and a booster, that is.