Over a hundred students were seen crowded outside of The Pit in the Nest on Wednesday night — many not wearing masks.
The Pit was hosting its first Pit Night since it cancelled all events in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was managed by Building Operations, Food and Beverage and AMS Events.
The Provincial Health Office lifted all restrictions, including capacity limits, on gatherings, nightclubs and bars and sporting events on February 17. Indoor mask requirements remain in place.
AMS President Cole Evans called the lack of masking and disorder “unacceptable.”
“In order for us to keep these Pit Nights going, it’s important that students who are coming to Pit Nights are respecting the direction given to them by personnel at the event.”
He said ahead of the reopening of The Pit, executives agreed that they needed to ensure they were following provincial health orders. Many clubs downtown have not been enforcing the mask mandate, but Evans said the AMS will.
“Our philosophy here is that as long as there is a provincial health order in place, we will do what we can to make sure people are following what the province has set out,” Evans said.
The AMS has pushed for stricter COVID-19 safety measures throughout the pandemic — even when UBC took a more lax approach.
As UBC refused to implement a mask and vaccine mandate in classrooms and student residences over the summer, AMS VP Academic & University Affairs Eshana Bhangu and AMS President Cole Evans sent two letters to the university to “go beyond the bare minimum” of the province’s guidelines at the time.
Evans also advocated for final exams to be moved online at the end of last term amid the Omicron wave.
However, Evans said this incident does not show an inconsistency in the society’s position on COVID-19.
“Our approach in this organization is very consistent with our advocacy ... we are fine with people being able to enjoy life and socialize and have a good time, as long as you’re doing so in a safe way, and that’s been our message to the university the whole time as well,” he said.
Going forward, Evans said The Pit could benefit from “enhanced planning” and changes to how the line is run. He also said students need to know they are expected to follow guidelines.
“Nobody in the organization thinks that any noncompliance with public health orders is acceptable. It’s definitely a unified front moving forward to make sure we are resolving any deficiencies in planning and enforcement when it comes to COVID-19 policy.”
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