Trinity Western University Student Association (TWUSA) members hosted a movie screening on Thursday, near the club’s headquarters on campus.
Scheduled for 9 p.m. – the outdoor movie night was advertised on a TWUSA representative’s social media channel as a time for students to spend time in the TWU campus community.
A student who attended, told Langley Advance Times on Saturday that it was “a group of our friends who decided to join together and watch a movie outside to practice social distancing.”
A coalition called One TWU alleged the “danger” the on-campus gathering posed to the “wider community” of people in Langley currently threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
One TWU, according to its website, is a coalition of alumni, students, and allies that stand for LGBTQ2+ and other student rights at the university.
In the Fraser Health region, COVID-19 has sickened 95 people, according to Friday’s provincial health briefings. In an effort to maintain social distancing and slow the spread of the virus, provincial health officials banned all gatherings of more than 50 people on Monday.
The student that attended said “there was a maximum of 15 people at the screening,” and while watching the movie, TWUSA members reminded the group to practice “safe social distancing.”
“No sense of ‘community’ is worth it at this point,” urged Friday’s One TWU statement, which likened students hosting events to recent news of youth in Florida spending time in groups over spring break.
As of Wednesday, all classes and other university-based meetings have been rescheduled or have moved virtual in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As a group that supports vulnerable people on campus in-person, we understand the desire to want to connect in a time like this,” the statement continued.
“Why then events on campus, which pose a clear affront to the instructions by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, are continuing is truly flabbergasting,” the One TWU statement said.
READ MORE: Trinity Western University gets virtual as COVID-19 prevents campus tours
In an unrelated instance, on Friday, a TWU student posted a video on social media of students in close contact and persons hugging, calling upon the student body to “protect those [they] love and those who are vulnerable.”
Langley Advance Times is awaiting a response from Trinity Western University.
