As Derby students begin to make plans to travel in the recently announced 'travel window', Corey Beck addresses a recent article which speculated the actions that students may take.
As lockdown 2.0 continues we would like to thank you for your ongoing commitment to the guidance, both national and local. We recognise these are hard and challenging times and appreciate your efforts to keep your friends and wider University community safe.
A recent article suggested that students will disregard local or national rules, once lockdown is over. We believe this is unfounded, inaccurate and unfair on Derby students who have committed to follow all restrictions placed upon them. In our experience, Derby students have been focused on following the guidance in order to protect themselves, their friends and their family and we have no reason to suspect this won’t continue to be the case as the travel window opens and students are allowed to move households. We have continuously been working closely with the University and will continue to do so, to ensure that every student who wishes to travel over the winter break, can do so safely and in accordance with the guidance.
We wish to make clear that the comments expressed by the Part Time Officer for Commuting students, in no way reflect the views of the Union of Students. These are the personal views and opinion of the student interviewed. We hold such views to be damaging to the perception of Derby students amongst our community and overlooks the overwhelming efforts of our students to look out for each other and control the spread of the virus by following the rules we are all subject to. The student body have selflessly volunteered their own time to support local community projects and have led on setting up a COVID-19 support helpline to students who are self-isolating or particularly in need of support during this time.
As Derby students prepare and make plans to travel after the 2nd December, we expect students to continue to follow national guidance and any local restrictions that may remain in place for Derby. We continue to encourage students to access the advice and support they need via our COVID-19 information hub at derbyunion.co.uk/covid
Stay Safe, Stay Well, Stay Connected
Corey Beck, Union President