Football Coach Posts TikTok Violating COVID-19 Policies

Reported by Jen Wright

Newberg, Ore.

On September 13, Assistant Defensive Backs Coach Chris Thomas posted a video to his personal TikTok account showing approximately 20 members of the football team singing together in the Duke Athletic Center weight room.

Most of the athletes were not wearing masks, in direct violation of the social distancing guidelines set by George Fox University (GFU).

The video has been shared among GFU students and reposted on Twitter and Facebook. The video gained over 85,000 views before it was deleted from Thomas’ account. Thomas has not responded to our request for comment.

In efforts to reopen for the Fall semester, GFU posted guidelines to the school website, required students to take a COVID-19 training course, and asked students to take a “Bruin Pledge” and follow GFU’s guidelines in order to protect themselves and the GFU community from COVID-19.

Classes and extracurricular activities have been altered to accommodate social distancing guidelines, including holding classes online or in the campus gyms, and cutting down on in-person interactions in the Music and Theatre departments.

According to the GFU website, faculty, staff, students, vendors and visitors across GFU’s campuses are required to use face coverings both in enclosed public and common areas, and outdoor areas where physical distancing is not easily maintained. Students found violating these guidelines can be sent home, according to the GFU Community Life Health Addendum. 

University administration has not yet made an official statement of any kind in reference to the incident.

Students have also noticed the football team habitually not wearing masks or socially distancing while practicing on the fields.

One student-athlete who saw the video when a friend shared it commented that they are frustrated by the football team’s violation of the guidelines. 

“It’s not easy to work out in a mask, but me and my team, we do it anyway because we want to keep other people safe, and so the fact that there’s a team that doesn’t abide by the rules as much. I know that there are several football players who are careful about that, but personally, from what I see, a lot of them aren’t wearing masks,” the student said.

“It’s also really frustrating because most of the athletic department is trying really hard to follow the rules to keep playing our sport, but if one of the teams isn’t willing to follow the rules, the whole athletic department can get shut down,” the student said. “I have seen several coaches in the weight room with athletes without masks on, and that’s really problematic, because the coaches are supposed to be the ones enforcing the rules and setting an example, so the fact that a coach posted it I guess means he obviously doesn’t care about setting an example or enforcing the rules.”

One theatre major considers the university’s lax attitude towards social distancing in the sports department unfair.

“Football is an extracurricular activity. And yeah, it’s very important to people who play it and are a part of it...and to not have that, it’s annoying. But, especially as a theatre major, we’re not allowed to do any live performances. We can’t even rehearse in person, we can’t do dramatic readings in person, and our Acting one and three classes are online this semester. And we are gaining a lot of skills by being online, that we wouldn’t [gain] in person, but it’s just annoying because so much of theatre is the in-person connection.”

According to the student, Performing Arts faculty presented several different ways they could rehearse and perform together, including using the outdoor amphitheatre, but all were rejected by the university administration. Instead, students are holding classes outside, wearing masks and socially distanced, and are rehearsing and performing in separate rooms.

The student clarified that they aren’t asking for guidelines to be relaxed, but for all groups on campus to be held to the same standard consistently, in an effort to keep protecting the GFU community.

“I was very frustrated and very hurt by the school, that they would let an extracurricular activity, even [one that] brings them more money, be more important than a major here at school,” the student said.

Students have also expressed concern over the lack of a timely response from the university. GFU’s Dean of Students and Title IX Deputy Coordinator Mark Pothoff responded to our request for comment and said, “George Fox leadership is aware of the video. We are addressing the situation. It is our expectation that all students and employees will follow the university's policies that provide guidance on singing and face coverings.”

Screenshot of TikTok posted by Thomas.