Class-Specific Mask Requirements

Before I get into this one, let me clarify: this is a thinking-out-loud piece. I’m sharing my own thought process on the question, as of now. This is not a policy, and as always, I’m not speaking for my college; it’s just an attempt to think through how policies could work. I welcome thoughtful feedback.

Based on guidance from the state, right now, mask wearing is optional on campus. It’s strongly recommended for people who are not vaccinated, though you can’t tell just by looking at someone. My state seems to have settled on an honor system, at least for the time being, and we’re going with that.

A question came up about whether individual faculty would have the option to require masks in their own in-person classes.

It’s a tricky one. So this is my attempt to think it through. Again, constructive and thoughtful feedback is welcome.

There’s no general dress code on campus, beyond the usual laws around indecent exposure. But there are specific rooms or classes in which the rules are more prescriptive. For example, safety goggles can be required in chemistry labs. In the culinary teaching kitchen, hairnets are required. Neither strikes me as unduly hindering students’ freedom of expression. The safety goggles are to protect the students, and the hairnets are required to protect the patrons who eat the food. In programs with clinical requirements, such as nursing, the clinical locations often have dress codes; that’s up to them. The athletic teams have uniforms, but that’s required by their leagues.

Of those examples, the safety goggles and hairnets seem the most relevant. As with masks, they’re both about safety. Masks protect both the wearer and the people around the wearer.

But I see a couple of key differences that render the comparison unpersuasive, at least to me.

The first is that in each case outlined above, the requirement is independent of the instructor. The requirement is attached to the class and/or facility rather than the professor. That means the rules are consistent for any two sections of the same class. And the rules have obvious connections to what’s being done in class. In other words, I can explain why safety goggles would be required in chemistry labs but not in Intro to Business.

The second is the politicization of mask wearing. I haven’t seen or heard of students storming out of chemistry labs, indignant over having to wear safety goggles. Hairnet requirements in the kitchen may elicit the occasional grumble, but anyone who has had to pick hair out of their food in a restaurant will understand the rule quickly. And even if the students don’t get it, the employers who hire them absolutely do.

Masks and vaccines, by contrast, have become hot-button political issues. That makes enforcement much more complicated.

From an administrative point of view -- sorry, but it’s kind of my beat -- an unenforceable policy has a much higher burden of proof. If a student comes to campus without a mask, having been told that masks are optional on campus, but shows up in class only to be told that this professor requires masks while others don’t, I could see the student getting their back up. Given the layers of meaning that the culture has assigned to masks, I could imagine some students deciding to take a stand against it. At that point, the professor has a choice: back down or ask the students to leave. If the students refuse, are we actually going to bring in campus police for that? In the age of cellphone video and social media, a few incidents like that could do untold damage. And that’s probably not a great use of police, either.

If we aren’t prepared to enforce bespoke policies, we probably shouldn’t have them.

I think it’s tragic that masks and vaccines have been politicized, but that’s not up to me. It’s where we are as a culture. We’re lucky to have a free vaccination site on campus, so anybody who wants a vaccine and is medically able can get one. At this point, at least here, we don’t have a supply problem. To the extent that there’s an issue, it’s on the demand side.

A professor who is concerned about their own class can absolutely wear a mask in class; we even have clip-on microphones that attach to the masks to get around sound muffling. And students who want to wear masks certainly have the option. But creating confrontations in dozens of classes at a time, based on requirements that vary from section to section, strikes me as heavy-handed and ill advised. It’s not a great use of law enforcement, and it’s not a great look for a college.

All that said, I’m still not entirely happy with this answer. Wise and worldly readers, is there a compelling rejoinder to the argument from enforcement?