On Feb 2, the NYU Abu Dhabi community received a now notorious email from Peter Christensen, Chief Administrative and Business Officer, and Jessica Sederquist, Chief of the Staff to the Vice Chancellor. Apart from helpfully informing the community that six feet was equal to the length of eighteen small chihuahuas, the email communicated a new set of public health guidelines, including the limiting of shuttle services "only to key locations including the Galleria Mall, Spinneys at the St. Regis and Carrefour at Yas Mall."

This entailed a suspension of the shuttle to Al Wahda Mall and the World Trade Center, thus removing the most affordable option for students to visit downtown Abu Dhabi, the city in which this university supposedly resides. While many of the cultural experiences students enjoy in the city may not seem essential, the shuttle also facilitated access to the several necessities for the community, including the American Center Psychiatry & Neurology, widely used by students, particularly during a pandemic that has exacerbated mental health problems. It also provided domestic workers with an affordable option to commute back home.

From a public health perspective, it should be noted that all of these locations are only open because the UAE government, which has been so effective in its enforcement of public health regulations, has deemed them to be safe. And while it is admirable that the university has chosen to go above and beyond with its public health regulations, the initial prioritizing of Yas Mall and Spinneys over Al Wahda is illogical at best, and classist at worst. More importantly, it shows how the university's efforts to engage with the city are hindered by the lack of diversity in administration.

The shuttle service limited travel interactions to the community, a population that is tested weekly and is mostly vaccinated. Ironically, the initial decision to remove the shuttle may have increased the probability of students interacting with non-community members in taxis and the public bus. Moreover, all shuttle destinations include centrally ventilated locations, with strict enforcement of masking and social distancing guidelines.

If anything, the shuttle to Al Wahda — with its proximity to a variety of safe, outdoor locations in Abu Dhabi's spacious streets — was likely a safer public health option than its counterpart to Yas Island, where most potential activities are limited to the confines of the shopping mall. As any visitor to both malls can attest, the crowds at Yas Mall and Al Wahda do not differ in number, but merely in the color of their skin or the size of their pockets.

But perhaps that is the point. Considering that the public health implications are similar, the decision came down to the university's priorities. Effectively, the administration decided that Spinneys, essentially a luxury convenience store for expats, was more essential than access to the entire city of Abu Dhabi and the communities that populate it. Why was Yas Mall deemed to be more "key" than accessing mental health facilities, or providing transport for domestic workers to commute to their workplaces?

Within a few days, the university administration reversed their decision, displaying commendable receptivity to feedback. But receptivity is no substitute for foresight. The fact that the administration came so close to making such a tone-deaf decision is reflective of issues that go beyond shuttles. After all, this is not the first time that the university has mistaken the racial or financial composition of a space for public health safety.

For example, in October, when the Dean of Students' office provided a list of safe suggestions for Fall Break outings, every single recommendation represented an expat or Emirati-dominated space, with no mention of any space primarily populated by the millions of migrants that reside in this city. A 30 AED smoothie at Nectar Cafe — an indoor space — was deemed to be safe, but there was no mention of any of the outdoor cafeterias that populate Hamdan street. In fact, there was not a single specific suggestion in downtown Abu Dhabi. Any public health rationale for these recommendations was belied by the fact that they included Vox Cinemas, arguably one of the most unsafe locations during a pandemic.

This is not to attribute any malice to the administration, but to acknowledge that the racial and class privilege of most of its members precludes its ability to make decisions in accordance with the needs of the student body. At its core, this is an issue of diversity. Both racially and financially, most members of the university administration resemble the clientele at Yas Mall and Spinneys, while the experiences and budgets of so many students may be more resonant with downtown Abu Dhabi. Most of the administrators responsible for these decisions do not have to face their repercussions; many earn six figures, some do not live on campus and very few have ever taken the shuttle.

This is not to take away from the remarkable efforts of the administration to provide housing for 1100 people during a global pandemic, but to suggest that a more collaborative public health decision making process may help address some of the university's blindspots. Perhaps, the administration could take the same spirit of openness that they displayed in their reversal of the shuttle decision and apply it more broadly to consult with wider groups of students, to try and understand the needs of all communities on campus and to endeavour to create a more diverse leadership that is a more accurate reflection of the student body.

In his reflection on the Global Network University, former NYU President John Sexton described Abu Dhabi as a "crossroad city" and suggested that the diverse makeup of the city was essential to the Global Network. Eleven years later, the relationship between the "crossroad city" and Sexton's brainchild itself stands at a crossroads.

Does the university use the pandemic to retreat to its tiny enclave on Saadiyat? Or does it work harder to facilitate a more meaningful and safe relationship with the communities that inhabit this city? Is the city of Abu Dhabi essential to the NYUAD project, or is it simply a convenient location for this campus?

Those questions cannot be answered at Yas Mall or Spinney's.