Many Colleges Still Evaluating the Need for a Mask Mandate

The highly transmissible Delta variant has prompted many to keep on wearing a face mask, despite being vaccinated. Others, however, believe this to be unnecessary. While some colleges and universities have announced a vaccine and mask mandate, like Stanford University, some others recommend, but not require them.

Some institutions, such as Rice University, have opted for an initial period of online instruction before resuming in-person classes. As the new semester unfolds, higher education remains divided.

The only way to defeat Covid-19 is to remain vigilant. According to Gerri Taylor, co-chair of the American College Health Association’s Covid-19 task force, students’ attitudes about mask and vaccine mandates are heartening. “I think they know that the best way to get back is to have a safe campus where as many people as possible are immunized.”

Vaccine mandates could also impact future enrollment. Seventy percent of students enrolled at institutions where there is no mask mandate said they plan to wear a face mask on campus anyway, according to a TimelyMD survey.

When classifying activities’ safety, students express concern on being in indoor spaces without wearing a mask

In another survey of 846 college students conducted by American youth’s research firm The Generation Lab on August 11 to 13, 2021, only 38 percent of students said they would feel comfortable attending an indoor party and only 34 percent would dance with others; 55 percent of students said they would not feel safe engaging in indoor parties, playing a drinking game, or kissing a stranger, or any other of the suggested activities, and mentioned in the chart below.

Seventy-three percent of respondents support a vaccine mandate on their campus with three-fourths indicating that their school will require masks to be worn indoors in the fall. Ninety-four percent of the students responded they had either received at least one dose of the vaccine, plan to get vaccinated, or are open to vaccination.

Further, sixty-two percent feel it is not safe to go to an indoor party without knowing other people’s vaccination status. In terms of campus space that require masking indoors, 90 percent feel comfortable in the laundry room, classroom, dorm common room, gym, dining hall. 

Professors are quitting or getting fire if refusing to teach in a classroom without a mask mandate

Meanwhile, more professors quit or are fired over face-to-face teaching mandates. And this is the real big problem today in higher education. A professor who takes a stand to protect their own health and that of their family, students, and others should not be punished by being fired.

Recently, Georgia State University fired one of its instructors for refusing to teach in a classroom without a mask mandate. Cody Luedtke was a lab coordinator and instructor of Life and Earth Sciences at GSU for almost six years. The institution forbids professors from requiring masks in their classrooms. Wearing masks, as we see in the survey above, is supported by the students. No one should feel unsafe at their workplace.

According to Cody Luedtke’s Go Fund Me page, currently, the University System of Georgia does not require masks or vaccination for students, faculty, and staff. And, faculty are forbidden from requiring masks in their classrooms or inquiring about the vaccination status of students. This affects the mental health of both students and faculty as well. The uncertainty of not knowing if they could be infected triggers stress and anxiety.

Luedtke respectfully refused to teach in an unsafe classroom -- an environment without a face mask mandate-- and she was fired. According to Inside Higher Ed, Georgia State confirmed that Luedtke was terminated for her “refusal to work.”

Cody Luedtke’s concerns had a valid reason. More than 8,403 people with confirmed daily cases of Covid-19 had been reported by the Georgia Department of Public Health at the time of this writing, with 83,050 cases in the last two weeks.

Perhaps higher education leaders need to reconsider the importance of keeping both students and professors safe in the classroom. And also, they must acknowledge the importance of feeling safe and supported by the institution they belong to in these unprecedented times. Otherwise, soon there were no professors left on campus to teach anyone.

In this light and as institutions resume classes, the most sensible solution is to focus on safe online learning and intensify as well as upgrade the connected campus. Those institutions who want to open up to face-to-face instruction should, indeed, require both students and instructors to wear a face mask on campus at all times disregarding vaccination status. 

Young people seem to support vaccine mandates. When asking students if they would consider transferring if their school does not commit to in-person learning next school year, the Generation Lab’s poll revealed that only 9 percent would transfer, 12 percent would probably transfer, 44 percent would probably not transfer, and 36 percent would definitely not transfer. The full report can be found here. The results assure the majority of students support online education and do not really consider in-person learning a need going forward.

Join Fierce Education in The Connected Campus free virtual event on August 31 to learn about how technology can make distance learning the best alternative to keeping everyone safe in the classroom and in line with 21st century education.

For more on mask and vaccine mandates in higher education see:

COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates Continue to Evolve, Even as College Classes Begin

Universities' Vaccine Mandate Could Impact Future Enrollment

Many Universities Requiring Students to Get Vaccinated