Petition to end NDSU mask mandate does not bode well for rising COVID rates
Fall semester has arrived at NDSU. For months, the NDSU community has been preparing to experience our ‘new normal’. Rising COVID numbers in North Dakota and the persistence of the delta variant have led to President Dean Bresciani’s announcement that masks will be mandated in classrooms.
After nearly three semesters of virtual learning, it seems many students and faculty are happy to wear masks. Especially if it means they get to return to campus and hopefully keep new positive case numbers low enough to stay on campus throughout the rest of the fall.
Yet it simply wouldn’t be NDSU if there weren’t a controversy surrounding this decision with a petition being made to end the mandate the same day of Bresciani’s announcement. The petition titled ‘Make Masks a Personal Choice at NDSU’ is a concerning development heading into this very uncertain semester.
Let’s dig into how this came to fruition, how those who created and are signing the petition seem to misunderstand personal choice and why everyone who actually values the ability to make decisions about their lives should support the mask mandate.
President Dean Bresciani’s update
On Aug. 17, Bresciani delivered a campus-wide update on mask guidelines. Bresciani highlighted that masks would not be required in indoor spaces, but highly recommended.
However, the petition against the mandate grew out of an issue with the following guideline from Bresciani: “[E]ffective with the start of classes next Monday, masks will be required in all classroom settings whether such classes are credit, non-credit, training sessions, etc.”
Bresciani made clear in his update that the mandate was made as a way to be considerate of others and highlighted the fact that masks are about protecting individuals who are at a higher risk of being diagnosed with COVID.
As he said, “I would remind people that not every person is eligible for a vaccination yet. Children under the age of 12 are still unable to get vaccinated, and many NDSU employees have children under the age of 12.”
The emphasis on empathy and protecting those who can’t protect themselves is necessary considering that spikes in new cases do not seem to be enough to encourage most people to wear a mask.
The New York Times reported the lowest number of new COVID cases this year in North Dakota on July 28. Less than a month later, we are seeing increases in new cases each day with the number reaching 116 positive cases on Aug. 22.
We won’t know for a few weeks how college students returning to Fargo will affect these numbers, but logic argues that things are only likely to get worse.
At this time last year, cases were higher. Now, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting that the delta variant is more than two times more contagious than other variants of coronavirus that we have seen. Early data from Canada and Scotland suggest individuals with the delta variant are more likely to be hospitalized and suffer from long-term COVID complications.
The best way to get back to a semblance of normalcy has always been through vaccination. The CDC reports that less than 42 percent of North Dakotans are vaccinated. This number is made only more concerning when individuals are calling for an end to other prevention strategies like masks.
Despite how badly everyone wants to continue with life like the last year and a half didn’t exist, COVID is unfortunately a reality.
Danger is still present, especially for children and adults who remain unvaccinated. It would seem Bresciani’s mandate to protect the health of the NDSU community is totally reasonable.
Petition to end classroom mask mandate
Some individuals took issue with the mask mandate, so much so that they created the ‘Make Masks a Personal Choice at NDSU’ petition and an affiliated Instagram page, @liberty4ndsu.
The petition states, “Whether one wears a mask to protect themselves from COVID-19 or not is a personal decision and not one that North Dakota State University should be forcing upon its students.”
It goes on to say, “If masks, as advertised, are meant to protect oneself from contracting the virus, then individuals who wish to protect themselves may. Those who do not wish to protect themselves may do so.”
If the decision not to wear a mask were as simple as choosing not to protect yourself, the request of those making the petition would be understandable. Unfortunately, it’s not so simple as making a choice for yourself — not when that decision will affect others.
Those who created the petition are confused about how masks work. The Mayo Clinic has many resources and peer-reviewed articles for individuals interested in learning about the effectiveness of masks in regard to the spread of respiratory-transmissible viruses.
The choice to go where you want, when you want and do so in a way that is safe for you and others is something we have the liberty to do only so long as we keep COVID numbers low.
Notably though, their staff released several articles discussing how masks function not just as a way to protect yourself, but more importantly as a way to protect others from your respiratory droplets when talking, coughing or sneezing.
When individuals argue that they have a right not to wear a mask if they don’t wish to ‘protect themselves’ they misconstrue the reality that wearing a mask is really about keeping other individuals safe. It’s difficult to successfully make the argument that a choice with such wide-reaching implications can be defined as personal.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about this petition is who is signing it. Overwhelmingly, it seems many of the signatures are not coming from students and faculty, but from parents of students and North Dakota residents who aren’t currently involved with NDSU.
Of the 36 comments left on the petition, half of them are from either parents or individuals admitting they do not attend NDSU. It’s interesting that the same individuals who are furious about a public health mandate because it speaks on behalf of students are happy to speak on behalf of students themselves and recommend they choose not to wear a mask despite not attending or working for NDSU.
Personal choice and mask-wearing
For the last three semester, many students — including myself — and professors have attended class virtually, have been unable to see friends and family, have missed out on life events and memories because the danger of COVID took away the ability to choose whether or not to partake in any of these things.
As freshmen moved on campus and filled auditoriums, they largely did so while not wearing masks. The sad but real truth is that their ‘choice’ and the choices of other NDSU students will mean the spread of a virus that will limit the choices of many others to live their lives and maintain their health.
So quickly we forget how miserable we were in the peak of the pandemic. We were stuck inside and feeling like we were missing out on life. Many of these incoming freshmen got a sad version of a senior year of high school, and now they are arriving on campus and forgoing masks which only puts their freshman year of college at risk.
Yes, of course definitionally you can say that mask-wearing is a ‘personal choice,’ but it is a personal choice in the same way that choosing to drink and drive is a personal choice. These are decisions you make as an individual that will affect everyone.
At worst, a piece of cloth on your face is a minor inconvenience to you but a huge service to others. Wearing one is a way to keep children and immunocompromised individuals out of hospitals and to allow those who wish to stay healthy to do so.
The personal choices that really matter will be gone if we continue down this current path. As Bresciani said in his update, “COVID-19 conditions may continue to decline, and we may have to take more aggressive steps.”
The freedom to make decisions will be gone when you are no longer able to attend class, when you have to spend your freshman year confined to your dorm, or your senior year in your apartment or worse yet, when you have to watch someone you love get COVID and can do nothing but sit and watch.
The choice to go where you want, when you want and do so in a way that is safe for you and others is something we have the liberty to do so long as we keep COVID numbers low.
I know you’re exhausted and tired of masks. We all are. Add the pressure to conform and not single yourself out by wearing a mask. It’s understandable why individuals, especially freshmen, are wary of following the mandate.
But wearing masks isn’t about you or protecting your freedoms, it is about protecting others. If individuals continue to fight preventative measures and COVID numbers rise to a dangerous level, the supposed injustice of having to wear a mask will pale in comparison to the inability to interact with anyone or do anything.