
news graphic1
Masks will no longer be required on campus as of Tuesday, March 1. Emporia State’s Future Planning Group made this announcement Tuesday afternoon, following Gov. Laura Kelly’s decision to rescind the mask mandate for the executive branch of the Kansas government, according to the email sent out to campus.
“It’s been trumpeted from students and folks to please consider this,” said Jim Williams, vice president of student affairs and member of the Future Planning Group. “I think where we see ourselves with the pandemic and the level of vaccinations in the community, the decision was well-vetted and we’ll move forward.”
Masks will still be required in the Student Wellness Center and the Center for Early Childhood Education.
This is because the Wellness Center is a health facility and children under the age of 5 are still unable to be vaccinated, according to Gwen Larson, director of media relations and member of the Future Planning Group. These facilities are also governed by “outside agencies,” according to Larson.
The Future Planning Group came to this decision after watching local and state COVID-19 case numbers and receiving feedback from students, faculty and staff, according to Mary McDaniel Anschutz, director of the Student Wellness Center and Health Services.
“There was a general consensus that students were ready to be done with it,” McDaniel Anscutz said.
In addition, students, faculty and staff already leave the “island” that is ESU’s campus and interact in places that do not have mask mandates, according to Williams.
“Students mingle all over town with or without masks,” McDaniel Anscutz said. “So if that is the case, I wouldn’t expect that it would make much difference at all (in COVID-19 case numbers).”
Only “time will tell” if lifting the mask mandate on campus will have an effect on the number of COVID-19 and cases and quarantines, according to McDaniel Anschutz.
However, it is possible that the mask mandate could be reinstated like it was before the fall semester, according to Larson.
Instructors will be allowed to personally require masks in their classrooms, according to the announcement. This will be enforced much in the same way some lab classes require close-toed shoes, according to Larson. However, there is no policy in place to help instructors enforce their classroom mandates.
Students, faculty and staff can also “step up to a higher level of mask” to protect themselves, according to McDaniel Anschutz. This would include moving from cloth and surgical masks to KN-95 masks. Anschutz cited the CDC saying that those are more effective against the highly contagious Omicron variant.
Additionally, individuals can ask those around them to wear masks, according to the announcement.
Students are encouraged to have “open and honest communication” and compromise with others, according to Williams. This would include holding hybrid study groups, according to Larson.
However, students can visit with student affairs if they have concerns or feel that they need to make accommodations in the classrooms, according to Williams.
Students, faculty and staff that may be uncomfortable with the mandate being lifted were considered in the decision, according to Anschutz. Though, there is currently no official policy regarding accommodating students who feel uncomfortable being in a classroom that does not require masks, according to Larson and Williams.
“We truly are hopeful that the campus can recognize that we need to respect people that are making choices that are different than our choices,” Larson said.
Students, faculty and staff are still encouraged to stay home when they are sick and watch for symptoms, according to McDaniel Anschutz.
“This doesn’t mean that COVID’s over,” McDaniel Anschutz said. “It’s certainly still around and being spread on campus and in the community and everybody still needs to take personal responsibility and use common sense.”
The mandate will not be lifted until Tuesday in order to give the campus time to prepare and think about their personal choices, according to Larson.
The School of Business will be holding a career day on Monday that will bring high school students to campus. Rescinding the mask mandate on that day would be “confusing,” according to Larson. Organizers of events can decide whether or not to require masks at their events going forward, according to Larson.
“We’re not anticipating any specific concerns based on the feedback we’ve gotten from our peer institutions that ahead of us have removed the mask mandate and left it as a voluntary thing,” Williams said. “But we’re also expecting everyone on campus to be respectful and to look out for each other’s needs.”
Pittsburg State University lifted their mask mandate recently, and Fort Hays State University did not have a mandate for this academic year, according to Williams.