CHANGE LES ROCHES STARTING DATE!!!

Ladies & Gentlemen... If you are following the news, you will recognize that this outbreak is spreading in a ripple effect... not all at once. Which means that once 1-2 countries start to heal, another couple countries begin to degrade. And as a response (and rightfully so), countries have literally shut down (boarders, companies, schools, etc.).

According to the WHO and the CDC, we can only expect our lives and businesses to start going back to normal... COLLECTIVELY (not speaking of individual countries)... until the end of summer, 2020, when the virus loses its kick and its capacity to spread. Knowing this, most schools (especially other competitor hospitality universities) have responded efficiently and intelligently; stating that they will continue with online courses until the end of June, 2020, and begin courses again normally at the beginning of Fall, 2020... so as not to cause a mess and a huge amount of stress for their students, parents, and faculty.

Les Roches responded differently. Instead of ensuring that the students well-being is top priority, they have decided it makes the most sense to TRY to bring back students at the end of July, 2020... without giving the virus and our respected countries time to fully settle down.

By doing this, Les Roches causes a couple major problems. Firstly, is payment and accommodation. We do not see our school taking enough action or care to ensure that everyone is being accommodated and/or reimbursed in any way for the extra months (July-September) that we would have to be in Bluche/Marbella?Shanghai for. Whether it be accommodation on or off campus, we need our school to ensure that we will not have to give payment out of pocket if we are required to be in school before the actual starting dates of the Fall, 2020 semester. A lot of us have already had to pay for our accommodation for our internships, and do not see it fair to make our hard-working parents pay for a second accommodation AND dining simultaneously. They are not money making machines, and we cannot abuse their hard earned income (and mind you since it is the summer season everything will be more expensive anyway).

Secondly, visas and embassies. This is not a school with a student body dominated by a certain nationality. Les Roches is an international institution, with a student body consisting of over 90 different nationalities. A lot of students come from countries that are difficult to get studying permits in the first place, making it near impossible to obtain or renew now due to this outbreak. Embassies are closed, and are projected to open around the beginning/middle of July, 2020. This gives students almost no time or chance to acquire the needed documents in order to study abroad. And we know your response: "we will look at it by a case by case basis." What does that even mean? Instead of bringing parents and students to an area of uncertainty and panic, why not open school doors on the original date and allow governments to LET our students come back with minimal stress, and to study and finish our education on time and with our fellow peers.

Third of all, our internships. We understand that our internships had to send a lot of students home, therefore terminating their contracts in an effort to keep the spread at a minimum. But asking students to complete their internship during the winter or AFTER their BBA6/complete students has little logic behind it. If Les Roches REALLY cares about us getting a degree and job in the Luxury sectors of Hospitality and Tourism, which the bulk of our students (and parents) expect, then they cannot expect a reputable, high-end brand to hire us for merely 3 months. Les Roches responded to this by saying "we are working closely with hotels in the area of our campuses to give you internships." Thank you, for that... but we did not sign up to work for brands and hotels that have no reputable name to them. It is our future and our CV's on the line. And frankly, despite our industry already doing very poorly due to the pandemic, we do not expect any relevant company (that meets the students standards) to hire us for only 3 months during the off-season (Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Sotheby's, etc.).

These are just a few of the many multiple reasons we KNOW that our school is opening its doors too early. We are also aware that administration is working hard to find a solution, but we hope you (Les Roches) really sit and consider the students more, when coming to your conclusion. Thank you students, parents, and faculty for your attention!

So now, we ask that the students and parents PLEASE help in taking action from preventing a lousy decision being made, by:
1. signing this petition
2. sending multiple other emails to our admissions, academics, and administration

SPREAD THE WORD AND DON'T KEEP SILENT!!! WE DESERVE BETTER!!!! IT IS OUR EDUCATION, MONEY, AND HEALTH ON THE LINE!!!!!!!!!