Staff Editorial: Masks coming back to campus
Lamron Eboard members wearing masks during production night, via Kate Rodgers, Photo Editor
Changes to mask mandates and Geneseo’s compliance with state regulations have felt incredibly unstable for years now, a phenomenon that Geneseo students are all too familiar with. Many students and faculty have often felt that Geneseo’s mandates were too conservative, particularly when New York State lifted the mask mandate this spring and Geneseo took a few weeks to confirm that this lift would be functional on Geneseo’s campus as well. Others have felt that progress in moving towards reducing COVID-19 regulations on campus has been far too quick and reckless. While the controversy surrounding these mandates is widespread, we at The Lamron support the school’s recommendation to return to masking indoors and at larger gatherings; however, we recognize and acknowledge the many drawbacks that this announcement has resulted in on campus.
As soon as Geneseo lifted its mask mandate a week before spring break began, it became clear to students and faculty alike that this was an irreversible change. Even before the mask mandate was lifted, many students and faculty either expressed strong negative opinions about the mandate or flat-out failed to comply—it was these same students and faculty that rejoiced and instantly removed their masks the moment that the mandate was lifted.
Of course, the CDC acknowledges and continues to maintain the claim that it is no longer necessary for vaccinated individuals to remain masked indoors. That being said, this claim does not exist in a vacuum—while, as a whole, vaccinated individuals are likely safe when unmasked indoors, there are certain outlying factors that may impact the effectiveness and safety surrounding this statement.
Geneseo, for example, is an environment in which COVID-19 cases have risen dramatically over a short period of time, not unrelated to the lifting of the mask mandate for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. In this case, Geneseo sent out an email to students stating that, “due to a slight increase in COVID cases at the college and the prevalence of the BA.2 Omicron subvariant in New York State, the College strongly encourages individuals to mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status, especially at large events and gatherings.” This announcement is in-line with the CDC’s recommendation to mask “if you are in an area with a high COVID-19 Community Level and are ages 2 or older.”
It is admirable and important that the college continues to communicate with its community members about the impact that COVID-19 continues to have on the health and safety of its students and faculty. That being said, it is rather unlikely that the vast majority of students and faculty that had initially expressed enthusiasm, or strongly encouraged the lifting of COVID-19 regulations, will return ungrudgingly to the mandates that had so recently been revoked.
This is not to say that the college has been irresponsible with its communication and regulation of COVID-19 protocols on campus, as the college has acted in compliance with New York State’s health regulations and the recommendations of the CDC—however, this lifting of the mask mandate followed by a quick return to encouraging masking does call for some hesitation regarding how students and faculty should treat COVID-19 policies moving forward. This quick change and contradiction of policy should encourage each and every member of the Geneseo community to think twice about the consequences that their actions have on the health, safety, and wellbeing of not only themselves, but the home that we all want Geneseo to be.