The future of masks at USD

USD to require masks even after California removes mandate

JENNY HAN / ASST. NEWS EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

On Feb. 7, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that mask mandates would be lifted for individuals who are fully vaccinated after Feb. 15. However, there are exceptions. According to ABC7, anyone, regardless of vaccination status, must wear masks in high-risk areas such as public transit, living areas, and K-12 schools. In addition, CA has stated that counties can choose to implement their own indoor masking requirements that may deviate from the state. San Diego County stated that they will be following Newsom’s decision. 

This announcement sparked controversy regarding enforcing the mask mandates in educational settings. Ky Synder, a member of the COVID-19 action team and the Vice President of University Operations, has stated that  USD will continue to enforce mask mandates after Feb. 15. 

“The County guidance for wearing masks in schools and classrooms has not changed. We are asking the county if there is a specific recommendation for colleges and universities,” Snyder said. “In the meantime, we will maintain our face covering requirement inside all buildings. Our return to campus testing identified 157 COVID cases in our first two weeks of testing with a 2.5 percent positivity rate which is over double our fall rate. We will monitor the County guidance, our on-campus positivity rate and make decisions accordingly.”

However, there is debate on if the mask mandate should remain. USD junior Mateen Mazloom is one student who believes that mask mandates should be lifted. 

“I don’t think masks should be banned or prohibited, but rather to provide students with a choice,” Mazloom said. 

He explained how mask mandates have hindered experiences, relationships and emotional connections with other students for him. Mazloom also touched on the controversy surrounding the USD vs. Gonzaga game.

“I could understand if the masks were for safety purposes, but we are far past that,” Mazloom said. “The university recently hosted Gonzaga for a basketball game against the USD boys’ team on Feb. 3. The JCP held 4,871 fans in an environment that was practically mask free. This occurred all while we are enduring Zoom classes and preparing for masked classes with anywhere from 20-30 students.” 

He also stated that he is not alone in his views. 

“Most students walk out of buildings and immediately take their masks off. A lot of students may not voice their support, but I’m sure we would all love to return to our beautiful school without having to worry about carrying around our face masks,” Mazloom said. “Give students the freedom they deserve. After all, without us, there would be no school to begin with.” 

While some, like Mazloom, believe masks should be a choice, others argue in support of keeping mask mandates for the purpose of safety. Maura Giles-Watson, PhD, USD associate professor of English, is one professor who strongly concurs that the mask mandate should remain. In her ENGL 321 syllabus, she requires that students wear either an N-95, KN-95, or KF-94 respirator mask for in-person classes. Dr. Giles-Watson provides these respirator masks to students free of charge. In addition, she allows students to join class via Zoom if they feel uncomfortable being in a classroom setting. 

One reason why she enforces these mask rules, and is in favor of the mask mandates, is because of her living situation. As a result, the lifting of mask mandates would have serious consequences for her.

 “I regret that, although I love my job and my students, I would have to take a leave of absence in order to protect my medically vulnerable spouse from exposure to COVID,” Dr. Giles-Watson said.

She states that she knows other professors would also have to do the same if USD were to lift the mandate. 

“Many faculty and staff members are older and thus more vulnerable themselves; others have small unvaccinated children at home; still others are caring for elderly parents or grandparents,” Dr. Giles-Watson said. 

All in all, she believes that it’s much too soon to be lifting the mandate. 

“Governor Newsom is making a mistake,” Dr. Giles-Watson said. “He is a politician and he has made this decision for political reasons, not scientific ones.” 

T.J Tallie, PhD, an associate professor of History and Director of the Africana Studies Major, along with Amanda Peterson, PhD, a professor of Spanish and Director of the CORE curriculum, agrees that the mask mandate shouldn’t be lifted yet. 

“Simple fatigue with wearing masks is a wildly insufficient rationale for putting far more people daily at risk,” Dr. Tallie states. 

“We are a community, and we’re collectively responsible for keeping each other as safe as possible in this pandemic,” Dr. Peterson said. 

There are also students, who support the mask mandate for similar reasons. Elizabeth Hrabovsky is a first-year who is in favor of the mask mandates. 

“We’ve [the county] dropped the mask mandate in the past and it has prolonged the pandemic so much,” Hrabovsky said. “I feel like if we hold out for just a couple more months, it’s going to be over quicker than if we take off the mask mandates.”

While masks remain mandatory at USD,  they are not (for the vaccinated) in the San Diego community. In the meantime, The USD Vista will continue to report on new changes regarding COVID-19 throughout the semester. keeping the campus informed.