After saying last week that there would be no mask requirement this fall, Northern Michigan University’s president annonuced Wednesday night that the university will impose a mask mandate on campus.
President Fritz Erickson, in a campus-wide E-Mail, announced that everyone, whether they’re vaccinated or not, will be required to wear masks in common areas during residence hall move-in activities Aug. 19-23, and in classrooms and labs effective with the first day of classes Aug. 23
Erickson also stated that faculty and staff will be allowed to require masks for visitors to their individual offices, where social distancing is not possible.
This was a reversal from what Erickson had said just last Thursday, after the CDC changed its mask guidance.
This is what Erickson wrote last Thursday, July 29.
“On Tuesday (July 27), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its recommendation regarding vaccinated individuals wearing masks when indoors for areas that have high rates of active COVID-19 cases. Since Marquette and most of the Upper Peninsula are not at the level the CDC considers high risk, we’re not going to change our policy and we’ll continue to monitor the situation.
“I remind you that these [protocols] might change in the event that the COVID-19 situation on campus, in Marquette or the U.P., or in the state change. There may be external entities (i.e. state or federal government, NCAA or athletic conference, others) or significant changes to the public health situation that impact our decision-making on this at some point in the future.”
But in Wednesday night’s announcement, Erickson reversed course.
This is what he wrote in that campus-wide E-Mail:
“Although Marquette currently has a low rate of COVID-19 cases, the start of the semester brings a lot of people together coming from areas all over the state, region and country, including many areas where the COVID-19 Delta variant is prevalent,” wrote Erickson. “In light of the new CDC information and rising Delta-related COVID cases, we feel that requiring masks where we know larger groups will be gathered indoors for at least the start of the semester will add an extra layer of protection. This is especially true for activities that are required, such as classes, while other campus activities, which are not required, remain the choice of each individual.”
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