Regents, Campus Presidents Unanimous in Support of Requiring Masks on Campus When School Starts

Two weeks ago, our public universities were saying they wouldn’t require masks on campus this fall. But yesterday, with Governor Kristi Noem away in Washington again bragging to Team Trump about what a great job she’s doing not responding to coronavirus, the Board of Regents apparently felt safe enacting a mask mandate:

To begin fall semester operations on the campuses, the regents agreed to require face coverings in all public indoor spaces on campus (Level 3). This action will be reviewed 30 days after the start of the fall academic term.

The board’s protocol, which applies to all students, staff, faculty, and campus visitors, provides for four differentiated levels of response:

• Level 1 requires face coverings in all classroom or lab settings where course delivery requires close proximity or physical contact and makes Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations on physical distancing impractical. Examples are instructional laboratories, clinical training environments, and design or art studio instruction.
• Level 2 requires face coverings in all public areas of academic buildings on campus (including classrooms, hallways, and common areas), along with other indoor areas where 30 or more individuals frequently congregate or interact in a setting not conducive to maintaining CDC-recommended physical distancing.
• Level 3 requires face coverings in all public indoor spaces on campus.
• Level 4 requires face coverings in all public indoor and outdoor areas of campus.

Significant community spread of the coronavirus in certain areas of the state, or other special circumstances, may result in an individual campus or location operating at a different level within the tiered framework from other institutions [South Dakota Board of Regents, press release, 2020.07.22].

This plan makes sense. The Regents set varying levels of response to deal with varying levels of public health risk. The Regents also recognize that some campi may require more strict interventions than others based on differing local conditions (like visitors flocking to Brookings for Halloween Hobo Day… which reminds me that trick-or-treating may not be advisable amidst pandemic… but which reminds me we could all have a lot of fun wearing masks to the parade and the grocery store that day!).

The Regents voted unanimously for this mask mandate. Even her former intern and Hamlin County pal Brock Brown, whom she appointed as student Regent just last month and who chairs the South Dakota College Republicans Executive Board, voted for this sensible mask requirement, though not without expressing some faint boss-appeasing apprehension about taking the mandate outside:

Brock Brown, the student Regent and a junior at South Dakota State University, said he had concerns that a student alone on the campus green would have to wear a face mask if the fourth level was implemented.

Brown said the fourth level would be helpful, though, for passing periods when the sidewalks are crowded between classes. He also said students should consider wearing a face mask at that time [Morgan Matzen, “Regents Vote to Require Masks at South Dakota Universities,” Rapid City Journal, 2020.07.22].

All six campus presidents (DSU’s through her provost) expressed support for requiring masks.

The K-12 schools should pay attention. The Regents and their campus presidents are all saying that we can’t gather safely indoors without requiring—not recommending or encouraging, but requiring—everybody to wear a mask. That tells me our K-12 schools had better adopt the same policy: everyone wear a mask… or have class outside!

Related Public Health Wisdom: The South Dakota State Medical Association says all public school districts should require face masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Update 11:45 CDT: Minnesota is applying our Regents’ wisdom statewide: Governor Tim Walz has executively ordered everyone to wear masks in indoor businesses and indoor public settings.