{"id":16098,"date":"2021-04-01T16:56:40","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T22:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/?p=16098"},"modified":"2021-04-09T07:09:22","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T13:09:22","slug":"arkansas-lifts-mask-mandate-campus-responds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/2021\/04\/01\/arkansas-lifts-mask-mandate-campus-responds\/","title":{"rendered":"Arkansas lifts mask mandate, campus responds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


Written by Madison Scott<\/em> and Caroline Birdwell.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arkansas\u2019s statewide mask mandate expired Tuesday, March 30, after Governor Asa Hutchinson announced the decision at a press conference. In response, the University announced some adjustments to COVID-19 protocols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mask-wearing will still be required in classrooms, chapel and indoor common areas, according to Harding Executive Vice President David Collins, who is chair of the on-campus COVID-19 task force. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an email sent to students on Wednesday, March 31, Dean of Students Zach Neal announced adjustments the University would be implementing. These adjustments include allowing guests in residence halls, allowing campus organizations to gather without special permission, combining chapels to only meet in the George S. Benson Auditorium, and the option to remove masks in residence hall rooms or office meetings if individuals are 6 feet apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are very thankful for your patience and continued compliance with our campus COVID-19 protocols,\u201d Neal said in the email. \u201cIsolation and quarantine numbers have remained low for our students, faculty and staff throughout the spring semester and an increasing number of employees and students are receiving the vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Collins, based upon self-reported and other anecdotal information, they estimate that around 60% of employees have received the vaccine. The majority of these are believed to fit the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) criteria for being fully vaccinated. Collins also said he estimates that as many as 1,000 students have received at least one dose of the vaccine, but the majority of those likely will not fit the CDC criteria for full vaccination for another few weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, March 17, David Ross, assistant vice president of human resources, sent an email to employees updating mask policies for those who are vaccinated. Ross said that following the CDC and Arkansas Department of Health\u2019s updates to mask-wearing protocol for those who have been vaccinated, employees are allowed to gather in small groups for meetings and remove face masks if all individuals in the meeting have completed the vaccination process. Ross said the directives did not apply to the classroom, chapel and other public spaces on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the University\u2019s March 31 announcement, some faculty addressed mask-wearing protocol for their personal classroom settings. Dr. Nathan Henton, associate professor of English, told his classes following Texas\u2019s mask mandate removal March 10 that regardless of what the University or state decided, anyone who entered his classroom was required to wear a mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt really comes down to spiritual mandates,\u201d Henton said. \u201cIt\u2019s loving neighbor as self \u2026 I do wear a mask because I\u2019m concerned for myself, sure, but I also wear a mask even at times when I don\u2019t necessarily need to because I\u2019m trying to express to others that I care about them and that this is my way of \u2018loving neighbor as self\u2019 and \u2018caring for the least of these.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophomore Abbi Rockwell said the University\u2019s response to lifting the mask mandate was confusing in its delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt [seemed] as though [Harding was] skirting around the actual mandate of wearing masks,\u201d Rockwell said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t outright state, \u2018Masks are still required on Harding\u2019s campus,\u2019 which might be confusing for some, or seen as a green light for those who do not desire to wear masks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new changes in Arkansas and at Harding may bring opposing views, but some students think Harding\u2019s guidelines are sufficient for the time being. Junior Cody Porter said he is glad Arkansas has lifted the mask mandate and that the University guidelines reflect it, to an extent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBased on Harding\u2019s COVID situation, I am glad they have loosened some of the restrictions,\u201d Porter said. \u201cI have no concerns with the new guidelines and would be more than happy if the guidelines were even looser than they are now \u2026 The state no longer has a mask mandate, and I\u2019d be perfectly comfortable if the University didn\u2019t either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior Rachel Palmer, who does not agree with the state lifting the mandate, said she is hesitantly in agreement with most of the University\u2019s new guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think protecting the vulnerable among us is the most important thing we should do in the midst of such a devastating disease, but I recognize the need for a sense of normalcy in this year that has been everything but that,\u201d Palmer said. \u201cI think the new guidelines are a good balance of recognizing the need for continued caution but allowing more normal activities in light of the COVID data on campus we\u2019ve seen this semester.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collins said that the University will continue to discuss COVID-19 regulations as the semester continues, listening closely to health officials and keeping students and employees informed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCampus leaders continue to meet regularly and stay up to date on information coming from [the] CDC and the Arkansas Department of Health as we make decisions that are specific to our campus community,\u201d Collins said. \u201cIf further adjustments are made during the remaining weeks of the semester, they will be communicated to students and employees.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Madison Scott and Caroline Birdwell. Arkansas\u2019s statewide mask mandate expired Tuesday, March 30, after Governor Asa Hutchinson announced the decision at a press conference. In response, the University…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15086,"featured_media":16099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16098"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16100,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16098\/revisions\/16100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}