STATESBORO — A Georgia Southern student created a petition stating that every student should receive all A’s for the spring semester due to COVID-19 and classes being moved online.

Hannah Hester, the student who created the petition on Change.org, wrote on the page that GS students did not pay for online classes nor are they prepared to take their classes online, and professors cannot expect the students to do well because of this. Hester got the idea to start the petition after she saw a similar one created for Valdosta State’s students.

As of March 25 at 9:17 a.m., the petition has been signed 5,845 times.

Madison Bonner, a student at GS, wrote on the petition that she has ADHD and online classes are her nightmare.

“I rely heavily on face to face interaction with my instructors to fully understand the content I am learning and to have the accommodations I need in testing environments,” Bonner wrote. “This will drastically affect my GPA, and I did not pay thousands of dollars for a semester where I am set up to fail.”

Morgan Pfleger, an interior design major, wrote that most of her tools and resources needed to succeed are not available to her at home.

“As an Interior design major, the projects and assignments we have to do require in class / face to face discussions, critiques, and materials that aren’t as readily available from home,” Pfleger wrote. “There is a reason almost all interior design classes are NOT offered online.”

Kevin Cassey wrote on the page that a better solution may be for the University to grant the average GPA carried by the student during their college career to the student for the spring semester.

Other reasons to sign the petition included the lack of internet access for some students, relief for those who have been affected by COVID-19 directly and students not feeling prepared for online classes. 

The petition can be accessed here. More information on what GS is doing to accommodate students financially can be accessed here.

Sarah Smith, The George-Anne Managing News Editor, gaeditor@georgiasouthern.edu