Today in Athens, Georgia, the rhetoric and attitudes around the growing town vs. gown conflict has seemingly leveled up in complexity. There are thousands of angry responses already this evening to a tweet sent by UGA’s official account, stating that there would be no early on-campus voting this year, only hours after confirming that people would be allowed to congregate prior to the upcoming football games, and that the student center would be open as well during those games.
To add to this, apparently there will be some very pointed words tomorrow morning from Michael Stipe, local Athenian and noted musician, that will likely draw a great deal of attention down onto this town from around the world.
Here’s a roundup of notable tweets from this evening:
- UGA Votes announces there will be no voting
- University of Georgia’s official announcement
- Bernice King’s response
- Mokah Jasmine Johnson’s response, and her follow-up
- R.E.M. HQ’s video about Michael Stipe’s editorial tomorrow on the virus
- Alexandra Edwards points out the problem with UGA’s virus statistics
And I think Stacey Abrams speaks for all of us, who are watching @UniversityofGA this evening.