Four days after mandating mask-wearing indoors in light of high rates of Covid-19 transmission locally, the University of South Carolina has stepped back from the requirement. In a note to the campus on Tuesday, Interim President Harris Pastides said the college had received a legal opinion from State Attorney General Alan Wilson, a Republican, stating that the legislature intended to prevent public institutions from mandating mask-wearing in their buildings.
“In light of this opinion, the university will not require anyone to wear face coverings in our buildings, except when in university health care facilities and when utilizing campus public transportation,” Pastides’ statement said. The change took effect on Tuesday.
In his statement, Pastides encouraged people on campus to get vaccinated and mask up indoors, noting that because public colleges in South Carolina cannot mandate vaccines, he “felt that face coverings would go a long way in preventing the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19, which is highly contagious, on campus.”
Case numbers have skyrocketed in South Carolina during recent weeks as the Delta variant has spread rapidly. Getting the vaccine reduces the likelihood of having severe symptoms.
South Carolina faculty members expressed their frustration with the situation on social media.
Mask and vaccine mandates remain hotly contested at colleges and beyond. In Wisconsin on Tuesday, a Republican-controlled legislative committee voted to make University of Wisconsin system campuses first get the committee’s approval before imposing masking, testing, and vaccination requirements. Now, the system has to submit proposed Covid-19 policies to the committee as emergency rules within 30 days. The committee will be able to vote to suspend parts of or all of the policies.
The University of Wisconsin at Madison is considering a mask mandate and an expansion of testing requirements, the chancellor announced on Monday, before the committee voted.
And at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Faculty Executive Committee plans to meet virtually on Wednesday to push for a vaccine mandate and discuss pandemic trends. The UNC system does not currently have a vaccine mandate, and leaders have previously said they would not order one, because of a lack of “clear legal authority.”
Meanwhile, these colleges are requiring students to be vaccinated:
- The University of St. Thomas, in Minnesota, announced on Monday that students, faculty, and staff must be fully vaccinated before classes start this fall.
- The University of New Mexico plans to require faculty, staff, and students to be fully vaccinated no later than September 30. The requirement must get the UNM Board of Regents’ blessing at a special meeting on Thursday before it goes into effect. The administration had previously just “strongly encouraged” the vaccine.
Also on Tuesday, Northern Kentucky University announced it will be requiring students, staff, and visitors to mask up indoors, regardless of vaccination status. The requirement goes into effect on Wednesday. In an email, Matt Cecil, Northern Kentucky’s provost, warned of the risk of the Delta variant and encouraged people on campus to get vaccinated. Hours later, the nearby University of Cincinnati announced it would be imposing an indoor mask mandate starting Thursday. Vaccines are not mandatory at the institution.