COLLEGE STATION, Texas — 20-year-old Kristyn Katherine Ahuero, a Texas A&M student, died from COVID-19 complications last week.
In response, students are speaking out with a planned and peaceful Tuesday protest against the administration's policies.
Students say Ahuero's passing from COVID-19 should be a wake-up call to the university that its policies just aren't cutting it.
Neo Koite is a junior studying Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences at A&M. They are also one of the organizers of tomorrow's protest.
“We decided to come together and plan this protest because we wanted to see some changes of how A&M is handling policies and student safety as well as faculty,” Koite said.
Some of the current A&M policies include the voluntary vaccine incentive program. Through a raffle, five students will receive an award worth $14,500 to go toward education-related expenses at Texas A&M. This includes tuition, fees and on-campus room and board.
"One of the other reasons why we are holding this protest is because of the Aggie value of leading by example. I believe what we are doing is leading by example for the people here who want their voices heard and some certain changes to happen, Koite said. "How can we see that we care and give back to the community surrounding us if we can’t even take care of the aggies on campus currently.”
Weather permitting, the protest will be held at the academic plaza Tuesday at 5 p.m.
“Me and my co-organizers understand that due to state restrictions, which is the fault of Greg Abbott. They can’t enforce mask mandates or vaccine mandates, so we have tried to come up with some other ways to try and make campus safer," Koite said. "Other people have also voiced their opinions through some of our written submissions.”
Some of the policy suggestions from students are hybrid or online classes, safer housing accommodations, non-mandatory in-person class attendance.
Currently, there is a link to a petition to support covid-19 policy changes for Texas A&M and can be found here.