Students, employees will be required to wear masks in classes, labs until April 1
By Thea Hinck, Alysse Kuglitsch and Brayden Grant
For On the Edge
Feb. 25, 2022
President Andrew Manion announced Tuesday that Edgewood College will drop a requirement for wearing masks in some indoor spaces on campus March 1. However, he said that masks will still be required in classes and labs until April 1.
Manion, who made the announcement by email Tuesday afternoon, added that individual offices and venues can require the wearing of masks in their areas through April 1.
He said the college will continue monitoring COVID-19 rates in the Edgewood community in March and revisit the decision before April 1.
“The wearing of masks will be encouraged in all indoor public spaces on campus, but not required, as of March 1,” Manion’s email said, adding:
“In keeping with our tradition of hospitality and our core value of community, we expect that we will treat one another with respect, kindness and courtesy regardless of whether we are wearing a mask.”
He urged that those who those who are concerned about their risk of being infected by COVID or possibly infecting others continue to wear masks while indoors on campus.
University of Wisconsin—Madison said Feb. 16 that it would no longer require masks after March 11, the last day of midterm exams. Madison College requires students, faculty, staff, and visitors to wear masks while inside any of its facilities until March 13.
The end to mask mandates can be controversial, Manion said in the email.
“The end of the mask mandate in Dane County is seen by many as a welcome (if not overdue) development. For others, the move is seen as premature while our area hospitals are still treating many cases of serious illness caused by COVID-19,” Manion said.
One student, Jake Owca, a Junior and a communications major, expressed indifference to the mandate. He instead commented on the social implications of masking.
“It’s so toxic that we’ve come to wear our political ideologies on our faces.” Said Owca. “I wish the people here could calm down and realize that masks or no masks, the campus will live to see another day.”
John Fields, an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Edgewood, said that he felt the mandate was a good compromise.
“It requires masks in cases where College community members need to be in close contact with one another but allows for personal choice and individual risk assessment in less crowded environments.” Said Fields.
Additionally, Fields recognized that reviewing the policy at the end of March allowed for changes to be made based on infection rates.
Public Health Madison & Dane County announced Feb. 14 that it would drop enforcement of the requirement to wear masks in buildings as a protection against COVID-19 on March 1.
The City of Madison said last week that the Public Health Madison & Dane County dropped the mandate due to the continuing decline in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations.
“Letting the face covering order expire doesn’t mean that the pandemic is over,” said Janel Heinrich, director of Public Health Madison & Dane County, in a statement on the agency’s website. “Rather, it signals that we have made it through the Omicron surge and are entering a new stage of the pandemic.”
Heinrich said area residents need to stay up to date on vaccines because they are highly effective in protecting people from becoming severely ill, being admitted to a hospital, or dying from COVID-19.
She added that testing and vaccination options will remain available to those who need them.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in the statement that she encourages people to continue to wear masks.
“Wearing masks, especially well-fitting masks in indoor public settings, has been proven to reduce the risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19,” the mayor said in the website statement.
The end to the mask mandate in Dane County does not affect the federal requirement for face coverings on public transportation , including public transit networks, airplanes, buses and school buses, trains, taxis, Ubers and Lyfts.
For more information about COVID-19 in Dane County, visit publichealthmdc.com/coronavirus.
Zack Moncrieff, Sam Hennick, and Rebecca Dickman contributed to this story.
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