Chairman of the Student Life Committee Noah Glasgow called David Voros returning to teaching “tone-deaf, it's dangerous and it's complacent.”
In a statement from USC, university spokesperson Jeff Stensland said Voros would remain on sabbatical through the fall semester. His three spring classes will be online, and he will not be allowed on campus to interact with students.
“This message says to survivors of harassment, trauma, unwanted advances, that their university and the university president specifically does not care about them. That sexual harassment is not only OK, but it entails a paid vacation,” Glasgow said.
Glasgow said the committee believed the university is “not turning a blind eye to sexual abuse, but actively and willingly contributing to it.”
Student Body President Alex Harrell said he had “the same concerns” and had not received any more information about Voros' return than any other student.
Chairman of the Health and Safety Committee Anna Kelley said she “will not be accepting” the university’s statement as an answer.
The Health and Safety Committee had been working with student senator Glasgow on the Voros situation before the news broke he would be teaching in the spring, according to Kelley.
“Everyone in that room, no matter what their political views, no matter what their stance on anything else, they're all mad, they're all — we all feel very betrayed, I think. So I'm very excited to see what we do when we come together and really work on this,” Kelley said.
In addition, during senate committee reports, Kelley said the committee’s partnership with the Student Health Center for its flu shot initiative resulted in 416 people receiving their flu vaccines.
The committee is also working on a “Stigma Week” to reduce the stigma around mental health.
“It's very personal for me because I actually have OCD, so I'm very aware of the whole — people think that OCD is lining up your fork, or something like that or turning the lights off 15 times. It is for some people, but it's not for other people. So I'm very invested in, you know, the stigmatization of it,” Kelley said.
Chairman of the Academics Committee Taylor Harris announced a partnership with Thomas Cooper Library to extend the library’s hours.
The committee had originally wanted the library to begin staying open 24 hours a day, but staffing issues prevent this, according to Harrell, who has also worked with the library on this initiative.
Harrell said he was hopeful the library would be staying open until 2 a.m. by Monday.