Students in the Fashion Business Industry (F112) program at George Brown College (GBC) are petitioning to get a mandatory on-campus course waived from this year’s curriculum, citing health and safety concerns due to COVID-19. 

Students who have signed the petition say that they don’t feel it’s fair to ask students to potentially place themselves and their loved ones at risk for a week-long sewing component they don’t feel is necessary to the overall success of their learning curriculum. 

Considering that F112 is a business-oriented program, students say it isn’t worth risking the health and safety concerns of traveling to campus and that GBC should not expect them to do so in order to graduate.

The petition has 120 signatures as of April 13. 

Brianna Figliuzzi, an F112 student at GBC, says she did not spend two years of her life in the program not to graduate, and that there are many ways in which GBC could have adjusted their curriculum to accommodate students but chose not to out of “laziness”. 

“This is a business program, not a design program and it isn’t our fault that there’s a pandemic and [GBC] is ill-prepared,” says Figliuzzi. 

Figliuzzi says she has already reached out to the program chair, Rosa Fracassa, and the dean for the Centre for Arts, Design & Information Technology, Luigi Ferrara, asking them to consider offering remote options or waiving the course, but says that both have refused to consider her requests. 

Fracassa, however, says that after hearing student concerns, she organized and hosted a virtual student meet-up session for students to voice their opinions, along with visiting one of the F112 courses in-person to discuss potential options available. 

“The college just can’t randomly waive courses as part of diploma programs that are credited by the ministry of education,” says Fracassa. “We just can’t pick and choose what is part of the diploma program pathway.”

An alternative option for students who are unable to complete the course this semester would be to complete the course over the summer. Fracassa says it will be offered a number of different times, and urges students not to take the course at this time if they feel it puts them at risk. 

“If this is not a good time for you, please do not take the course, take it when it is best for you. We completely understand that coming on campus is not for all students, depending on their personal situation, their home-life, themselves and whatever health concerns they might have, this may not be a good time for them.” 

According to Dean Ferrara, Fracassa has also helped international students and domestic students living outside of the GTA find options to arrange their sewing component outside of GBC so that they can prove their experience in time for graduation.

Given the options available, some students still remain dissatisfied and continue to push for the waiving of the course. 

“It’s unfair to all the students that are so close to graduating and are expected to attend an in person sewing class at the end of April in order to receive their diploma”, says Carlie Moxham, a student in the F112 program. 

“Also to add that this is a fashion business program, sewing is only a small portion of this course, so why is it determining whether we get to graduate or not? We are in our third wave, with cases reaching over 4,000 and in a stay at home order and they still expect this class to go in as planned.”