Here's what I sent to President Clements (thank you to Kimberly for providing the template). Happy to forward to you if you provide your email address in comments (as I believe the hyperlinks will be removed).

President Clements,

I am a resident of South Carolina and the parent of an incoming Clemson Tiger. My wife and I supported our son attending Clemson because we believed it to be a top notch learning environment espousing fair-minded principles grounded in personal responsibility and freedom.

I am writing to ask that you allow personal choice with respect to masking and routine covid testing and rescind the recently announced policy of weekly Covid testing.

Why? The Delta variant is not nearly as dangerous as the media hype suggests (article). It is more contagious, but far less lethal than the original strain. So while infections are rising, hospitalizations are actually dropping.

Many students and faculty have received the vaccine and many more have active and durable natural immunity from prior infection. (Cleveland clinic study) While new variants are spreading again, the data show lower hospitalizations and death when compared to prior outbreaks. Initial COVID mitigation strategies to ensure our hospitals would not be overrun have morphed into an attempt to eradicate a virus with a 99.9% survival rate.

We need to go back to a sense of normalcy for the sake of our children. We cannot shield them from every risk. In fact, vaccinated Americans have a better chance of being struck by lightning than dying from the Delta variant. (Link). We can not steal another year of normalcy from our kids. Please consider the more dire risks to our college age students. The CDC says 25% of US young adults considered suicide in June (link)
With respect to testing, we need to return to HEALTHY as the default. Routine screening testing of students who show no symptoms of being sick should be optional, not required. The CDCs own data and policies indicate that antigen testing in asymptomatic individuals is inaccurate and that a positive antigen test, in the absence of clinical symptoms, is not indicative of infection with Covid19.

Additionally, in EO 2021-23 (link), Governor McMaster states (section 7) "Any and all such testing shall be conducted pursuant to the terms of the standing order issued by the Director of Public Health, with the requisite prior consent, and in a manner that is consistent with applicable law. To facilitate the foregoing initiative, I hereby direct DHEC to develop and distribute a standardized form to memorialize and confirm that prior consent for voluntary testing is obtained from any participant or participant’s parent, guardian, legal custodian, foster-care provider, or other representative authorized to provide consent, as applicable, in a manner that is consistent with state and federal law.” By my reading, Clemson’s ongoing testing requirements (link) are in violation of the law as they are not voluntary.

Allow our students to evaluate the data and their own risks with respect to masking and testing. Those in higher risk categories have options to vaccinate, mask, and test. Our kids have sacrificed greatly over the last year and a half. We can not continue to put the burden of managing the health of all onto our young adults and children who are at very low risk. Personal responsibility (freedom) is the only path back to normalcy in the wake of a virus that will continue to mutate.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote "There is no justification for taking away individuals' freedom in the guise of public safety."

Thank you for your part in making Clemson a home away from home, and for being committed to once again providing a world-class educational experience, in-person without restriction.

GO TIGERS!