EWU sporting event Covid policy

As an EWU alumnus, football season ticketholder and fan, it’s exciting to see the Eagles again excelling on the field and national stage.

I just wish my wife and I could be a part of it in person. Unfortunately, due to the EWU Athletic Department’s Covid policy, we are reduced to home spectators unable to use our tickets.

Unlike other athletics departments at Washington State, University of Washington, Oregon and Gonzaga as well as professional teams such as the Seahawks, Sounders and Kraken who have taken the proactive steps of requiring proof of vaccination from fans for attendance, EWU is doing the bare minimum — following state protocols by asking fans to wear masks at athletic events.

We watched both home games at Roos Field on TV, and during crowd shots, we could count the number of fans wearing masks on one hand. A reply to a post on one EWU social media fan page asking about masks stated “It won’t be enforced once inside so you’ll be just fine.”

I understand EWU Athletics is facing budget deficits. Apparently, they would rather put sports revenue over fans health and safety as well as that of their students, who occupy sections in the grandstands below a fan base barely 51 percent vaccinated at best.

It’s likely this season of unused tickets is our last as supporters of Eagle sports. I used to think my alma mater was a progressive-thinking school, but not anymore.

John McCallum

Liberty Lake