Letter to Dean of Sheridan College - Graduation Ceremony

Dear -------------,

I am an alumni of Sheridan College that graduated from the Kinesiology and Health Promotion program in the year of 2020. A lot has happened over the past years and the policies enacted by this educational institution in reaction to the pandemic cannot be held on the shoulders alone of the school, but by bad public health policies all around Canada. I am appreciative of the fact that the school has paused the vaccination policy, although it took longer than expected, since there was very little indication from studies that vaccination would decrease transmission.

I was intrigued when Sheridan College sent out an email that an in-person graduation ceremony would be held for my year and the year afterwards. I am deeply disappointed by the fact that masks would be mandatory. Out of all the terrible public health policies enacted through the pandemic such as lockdowns, mandatory vaccinations, vaccine passports, and mandatory masking, I am shocked the latter is still required. Although I am neither a public health expert or a doctor, I am not confined to the limitations of my ability to conduct a thorough research on past and current scientific literature on masking, and to rely on credible experts to determine the efficacy and effectiveness of community wide masking in reducing Covid-19 transmission.

It is quite clear to me and many others, that there is no substantial evidence to suggest even the slightest bit that community-wide masking would decrease Covid-19 transmission. If Sheridan College allows these political ideologies to dictate how the school should operate and ignore the blatant empirical evidence on the subject of matter, reducing covid-19 transmission by masking, I would have lost hope for the very educational institution that I held highly through my five years at the school. I do understand that in the end, this educational institution is a business and for it to survive, there are certain rules of the game that it must abide to. However, if it is for the betterment of society as a whole, I am uncertain whether the actions of the school over the past two years and now, stand on the very foundation that the school claims to be according to the principles and values.

Sincerely,

Kai Cheung