Students who refuse to comply face code of conduct violations with penalties ranging from  warnings to expulsion; effort will probably first be a sit and talk session with a student who defies the mandate to help the person better understand that the requirement is not about any individual but an effort to better protect the education community the person is  a part of

The three public universities in Arizona and its largest community colleges have indicated how they will enforce the mask mandates they have imposed to protect the education community from the rapid spread of Covid-19.  Failure to comply is considered a violation of the student code of conduct.

The sanctions for ignoring the mandate may range from education of a student by explaining the mandate has nothing to do with that person  but its about protecting the community that the student is a part of to expulsion. 

The institutions all emphasized they are not mask police.  The policy is merely an application of common sense.

The mask policies are combined with encouragement for vaccinations and testing.  The goal is to keep the classroom doors open.

Arizona State University will  focus on encouragement, according to the article in the New Republic. “We will take steps through the student affairs process and the student code of conduct to address unwillingness to be a part of the Sun Devil community, just as we will address any other matter of conduct within the university.”

At the University of Arizona (UA), faculty can offer students a mask if they forget to bring one. If students refuse to wear a mask when offered, they should be asked to leave, according to a note sent to instructors from the University Provost.  Instructors have been given an online form to use that will  alert the dean of students’ office about students who violate mask rules.

According to Jessica Summers, chair of UA’s Faculty Senate and professor in the college of education, faculty members had advocated and petitioned for masks requirements in classrooms. Many were concerned about having packed classrooms without masks required, and having students get sick and then needing to return to an online semester.

Summers said: “I think there’s a sense of relief. I still think that there’s some anxiety about what is this going to look like, how hard is it going to be to enforce this requirement in classes? It hasn’t relieved all of the pressure . . .  but I think it’s taken a lot of anxiety and pressure off faculty who were worried about their students getting sick, about them getting sick.”

Gary Rhoades, a professor of higher education at the University of Arizona, said faculty have “virtually uniform relief and pleasure” with the new mask requirement.

Note: Yavapai Community College is not among the institutions that have implemented a mask  mandate.

Source:  Alison Steinbach article, Arizona Republic, August 21, 2021, p. 1.

Face coverings indoors when social distancing is not possible

Pima County Community College in Tucson had joined  the University of Arizona, Arizona State, Northern Arizona and the ten Maricopa Community Colleges  in requiring face coverings indoors when social distancing is not possible.

In its announcement, Pima said the mandate was in “alignment with guidance from the CDC, the Arizona Department of Health Services, the Pima County Health Department and recent actions by public universities in Arizona.”

The following is its Pima Community College press release regarding the requirement:

Throughout the pandemic, Pima Community College has been committed to protecting the health and safety of students and employees while delivering the highest level of educational services possible. Based on the changing health conditions and in alignment with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Arizona Department of Health Services, the Pima County Health Department and recent actions by public universities in Arizona, effective Monday, August 16, 2021, we will require face masks to be worn in all indoor spaces where it is not possible to adequately and continuously maintain social distance.

The masking requirement includes classrooms, labs, student learning spaces, offices, meeting areas, and any indoor areas designated by posted signage, and applies to all employees, students, visitors and vendors. We appreciate everyone’s continuing understanding and flexibility as we respond and adapt to changing circumstances.

Recommends but does not require masks in classrooms, offices or where groups congregate indoors; reluctance not unusual as administration is centered in ultra conservative Arizona County where only 40.4 percent of citizens are fully vaccinated

Yavapai Community College has fallen behind Arizona’s Universities and its largest Community College in Covid-19 safety protocols by not mandating the wearing of masks in classrooms, offices, and other indoor gathering facilities  when classes begin August 16. 

The mask mandate is a simple precautionary step  recommended by reputable  scientists around the world as a method of helping reduce the spread of COVID-19. While all public universities in Arizona have required  precautionary measures such as mandating masks in certain locations (placing intelligence over ignorance), Yavapai Community College sits in the heart of conservative Arizona where common sense health measures such as vaccinations and wearing a mask are opposed by large numbers  of the population.

There are significant political influences that may explain Yavapai’s reluctance to follow the best health protocols for educational institutions.  For example, one of Arizona’s leading conservatives, State Senator Karen Fann, comes from the Prescott area. This is the location of  the Community College’s largest concentration campuses and centers.  It is also the  home base for all of Yavapai’s  administrators. 

Senator Fann was a leader in the  conservative dominated Arizona legislature that resulted in  a law approved in  July that was intended to outlaw mask mandates at all public educational institutions.   However, because of sloppy last-minute drafting, it was  discovered that Universities and Community Colleges were most likely not covered by the anti-health directive.  

Senator Fann is also a supporter of the Community College with a relationship with its current president.

Meanwhile, cases of Covid-19 continue to leap upward in Arizona and Yavapai County.  Prescott and Prescott Valley appear to be at the epicenter of the surge in Covid-19 in the County at the present time. The two municipalities reported a total of 71 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, August 13.  The two also account for 52% of all 555  deaths so far in Yavapai County from Covid 19.

On August 13 the County health department reported there were 61 persons in hospitals in Prescott and the Verde Valley because of Covid-19 and the one-week positivity rate was at a shocking 14.4%.  Also, according to the County’s August 13 report, only 40.4% of the County was fully vaccinated with 46.1% of its citizens having at least one shot.

Associate Justice  Barrett latest in line of jurists to issue order favoring schools; Supreme Court ruled in 1905 in Jacobson v. Massachusetts that states could enforce vaccination mandates through criminal penalties

The United States Supreme Court refused Thursday to block Indiana University’s requirement that students be vaccinated against Covid-19 before being allowed to attend classes in the fall semester.  Justice Amy Coney Barrett denied a request from eight students at Indiana University who had claimed the University of Indiana should be barred from mandating that they be vaccinated because the risks associated with the vaccines outweighed the potential benefits for the population in their age group.

Justice Barrett’s rejection of the request from students contained no dissents from any of the other justices.

“Once again, the court has affirmed our legitimate public health interest in assuring the safety of our students, faculty and staff and we are excited to welcome our community back for the fall semester,” Indiana University spokesman Chuck Carney said in an email.

The students had lost their case at the trial level and at the Court of Appeals level before asking the Supreme Court to stop Indiana from mandating that all students be vaccinated. before entering the classroom.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago had earlier dismissed the students claim. Seventh Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook, when declining to grant an injunction as requested by the students, noted that the Supreme Court had ruled in 1905 in Jacobson v. Massachusetts that states could enforce vaccination mandates through criminal penalties. Unlike the university’s mandate, he said, Massachusetts’ smallpox vaccine mandate did not include a religious exception.

The plaintiffs, he wrote, nonetheless claim that Indiana University’s mandate infringed on a “fundamental right. Yet Jacobson, which sustained a criminal conviction for refusing to be vaccinated, shows that plaintiffs lack such a right. To the contrary, vaccination requirements, like other public-health measures, have been common in this nation.”

The judge also wrote that the plaintiffs’ right to bodily integrity did not mean that the school could not require vaccines or other safety measures, just as their right to property did not stop it from charging tuition. “Undergraduates must part with at least $11,000 a year (in-state tuition), even though Indiana could not summarily confiscate that sum from all residents of college age.”

Source:  Klaassen v. Trustees of Indiana University, 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-2326.

Administration  believes that this decision will provide the best chance to maintain in-person learning experiences for students | Students receiving the vaccine at one of its college campuses will receive a $50 grocery gift card while supplies last

The Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) announced late Thursday  that it has updated its mask guidelines. Under its guidelines,  face coverings are mandated to be worn indoors at any facilities across the 10 Maricopa Community Colleges and system offices.

“The Maricopa Community Colleges’ goal throughout the pandemic has been to protect our community’s health and wellbeing,” said MCCCD Interim Chancellor, Dr. Steven R. Gonzales. “Requiring our students, faculty, and staff to wear face coverings is another step in the right direction for our Colleges to begin the fall semester safely. I want to thank our employees and students who have continued the hard work of keeping themselves and our Maricopa community safe.”

In its press release, Maricopa stated that “Because this requirement applies to all individuals regardless of vaccination status, it is in line with both the Governor’s Executive Order (2021-15) and Arizona Revised Statutes 15-1650.05, which will go into effect on September 29, 2021. We understand that not everyone may be able or willing to be vaccinated, and our intent is to respect each individual within our community while also addressing the safety concerns associated with the current circumstances.”

The Community College stated that it believed “this decision will provide the best chance to maintain our in-person learning experiences for our students. We will also continue to monitor the evolving mask and face-covering guidelines and update the Maricopa community of any changes as we move into the fall semester.”

The Maricopa Community colleges continue to strongly encourage members of our community to receive the vaccine. Beginning August 21, 2021, it will be hosting vaccine clinics on each of its college campuses for students and their friends and families. As an added incentive, students receiving the vaccine at one of its college campuses will receive a $50 grocery gift card while supplies last. Only Maricopa Community College students are eligible for the grocery card.

Source:  Maricopa Community Colleges Press Release dated August 12, 2021.

All three state universities will require face coverings in all classrooms and labs and at some other indoor settings; University officials believe they have not broken Arizona’s law on prohibiting mask mandates

Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona have announced that they will require face coverings in all classrooms and labs and at some other indoor settings. Although the universities’ new policies appear initially to contradict the Arizona law that prohibits  requiring masks for unvaccinated people to receive in-person classroom instruction, University officials argue they have not broken that law.

ASU’s mask mandate  states that: “In certain indoor settings face coverings will be required. Those settings include all classrooms and teaching or research labs.” Masks are also required “in close-quarter environments where physical distancing may not be possible.” These include ASU clinical programs and centers that serve the public; meeting rooms, production studios and other indoor locations where distancing isn’t possible; and all indoor settings “designated by posted signage.”

Meanwhile, university officials contend they have not broken Arizona’s mask law because the mandate applies to everyone at ASU. “Unlike the legislation applicable to K-12 districts, neither the governor’s order nor the legislation applicable to the universities prohibits a mask mandate,” said ASU spokesperson Jay Thorne. “Instead, it prohibits the universities from either requiring vaccinations or imposing different requirements on students to attend classes (such as masking or testing) based on the student’s vaccination status or willingness to disclose that status.”

Thorne said that there is “no limit to what we can do in terms of masking at a university level and requiring that of all students in areas where we can’t provide physical distancing.” He said ASU officials believe they can require masks as long as there is no differentiation between unvaccinated and vaccinated students.

Northern Arizona University and Arizona University have followed the lead of ASU with their own mask mandates. So far, no Arizona Community Colleges have followed the three universities in issuing mask mandates.

Sources:  Arizona Republic, Thursday, August 12, 2021 article by Lacey Latch; Arizona State University Health Services, https://eoss.asu.edu/health/announcements/corona;

NAU Health Services, https://in.nau.edu/campus-health-services.