rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/protect-ut-from-delta-variant?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-protect-ut-from-delta-variant' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Texas State Employees Union https://actionnetwork.org/groups/texas-state-employees-union https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/share_options/facebook_images/000/317/299/original/TSEURosie.jpg ATTN: University of Texas Board of Regents, UT System Chancellor James. B. Milliken UT President Jay Hartzell Executive Vice President and Provost Sharon L Wood. Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Darrell Bazzell We, the members of the Texas State Employees Union, urge UT System and UT Austin leadership to implement vaccination and mask requirements on campus for all faculty, staff, students, and visitors effective immediately. Doing so is crucial in stopping the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. Governor Greg Abbott is putting state employees and students at risk by prohibiting state agencies and universities from effecting medically-proven solutions—masking and vaccinating foremost among them—to combat the rise in cases across Texas and the country. As of early August, Austin has reached the Stage 5 threshold. Our hospitals’ ICUs are nearly at capacity and the number of hospital admittances has reached a seven-day average of 50. Public health officials and experts, including many based at UT Austin, are pressing people to vaccinate and wear masks indoors to protect themselves and reduce hospital capacity. In order to protect everybody who works in, lives in, and visits Austin and the surrounding areas, we are asking UT leadership to follow the research and guidance coming from experts at our own institution and mandate that: 1.) All students, staff, faculty, and visitors to campus be vaccinated for COVID-19 2.) Masks are worn indoors in all university buildings 3.) Everybody who lives and works on campus be tested bi-weekly UT leaders, please act now to protect the health and wellbeing of everybody in our Longhorn family. Signed, UT Organizing Committee, Texas State Employees Union (CWA 6186) https://actionnetwork.org/letters/protect-ut-from-delta-variant