ASU OKs campuses to mandate masks

Arkansas State University passed a resolution Thursday permitting administrators on all of their campuses to enforce a mask mandate should they feel it is necessary for the protection of faculty and staff.

During a Thursday morning meeting of the Arkansas State University System board of trustees, Chuck Welch, president of the system, said he hoped chancellors and other administrators would not have to “consider” mandatory masking again, but in light of the highly contagious delta variant, it is unavoidable.

“Unfortunately, things have changed with the delta variant,” Welch said during the conference call. “We are having some significant challenges in our communities.”

During the last academic year, ASU in Jonesboro faced considerable challenges with student and faculty quarantines at times as there were months during the pandemic when the northeastern part of the state was hit with substantially high numbers of cases.

ASU joins a number of other colleges and universities in Arkansas that have passed resolutions implementing face coverings as the fall semester starts in a number of days. Those resolutions were passed after an order Aug. 6 from a Pulaski County circuit judge that temporarily blocks the state’s anti-masking law, known as Act 1002 of 2021.

The mask requirements apply not only to students, but also university employees, with most of the announcements also explicitly stating that guests are to comply with the policy.

Administrators at all seven ASU System campuses, which also includes Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, are immediately implementing a masking policy, said Jeff Hankins, ASU’s vice president for strategic communications.

“When we look at the contagion factor of the delta variant, we have great concern about what could be facing us when school starts here in the next few days,” Welch said.

Chancellors at ASU System’s campuses will be able to choose when to start or to stop mandates depending on the numbers of cases on campus and in the surrounding communities, Welch said.

ASU System member institutions include Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas State University-Beebe, Arkansas State University-Mountain Home, Arkansas State University-Newport, Arkansas State University Mid-South, Arkansas State University Three Rivers in Malvern and Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.

“We are asking you [the board of trustees] to grant authority to our chancellors in consultation with me to implement policies on their individual campuses,” Welch said. “Our rationale for doing this is we feel it is important to be very strategic in our approach.”

“There is no perfect solution to this pandemic,” he said. “We know indoor face covering and vaccinations are critical to fighting this pandemic.”

The board of trustees voted unanimously to pass the resolution. It will remain in effect until the board rescinds the resolution or if other regulatory or legal action requires it to be cancelled.

Other institutions of higher education implementing similar policies include the University of Arkansas System. UA trustees voted Wednesday to implement mask-wearing policies on UA campuses.

The decision directed campuses to implement face-covering policies “regardless of vaccination status” for indoor public settings when physical distancing cannot be assured “in accordance with CDC guidance regarding the covid-19 delta variant.”

The 10- member trustee board unanimously approved the measure.

Arkansas Tech University also announced Wednesday that face coverings will be mandatory in buildings It took effect Thursday.

The new mandate for Arkansas Tech, which has its main campus in Russellville, requires that masks be worn “when indoors in a congregational setting,” including classrooms.

It applies whether a person is vaccinated or not.

Southern Arkansas University on Wednesday announced a “temporary” policy requiring masks within indoor spaces.

“As the Covid-19 variant increases and our hospitals are stretched for resources, we feel it only prudent to do everything we can to keep one another safe,” Trey Berry, SAU System president, said in a statement.

The new requirements Wednesday were announced a day after the University of Central Arkansas announced that face coverings would be required in classrooms, common areas and shared spaces of buildings.

“Each campus chancellor may develop exceptions to their respective face-covering policy if such exceptions are based on public health recommendations, intercollegiate athletics participation requirements, state or federal law, or other applicable state or federal regulatory guidance,” an ASU System news release said.