Since the pandemic began in early 2020, masks have been commonplace. Though they’ve come and gone, the imagery of masks have been in the back of our minds since the first signs of the pandemic. Masks have been a part of Lipscomb students’ lives for nearly two years at this point in time, and it’s fair to say that we all want this to end very soon.
In the span of a week, the amount of people wearing masks in Allen Arena for the Gathering as well as in my classes decreased substantially. The reason for this, of course, was February 8 marking the end of the indoor mask mandate on campus.
Though it remains highly recommended that one wears a mask indoors, it is no longer enforced, and because of this a large number of students and professors have stopped wearing masks during class. Even prior to February 8 when the mask mandate was still intact – there was a decently sized number of individuals who didn’t wear masks indoors.
After observing the general population on campus and mentally taking notes on how many students and faculty members wore masks for a brief period of time after the mandate officially ended, a conclusion was reached.
The ratio of mask wearing students and students without masks for one day of regular classes was found to show that roughly eight percent of the students encountered that day were wearing masks after the mandate had been lifted.
In speaking with some Lipscomb students enjoying dinner together at the honors house, some interesting student opinions on the subject were gathered. “…When it gets warmer and I pay more attention to our cases, and they’re real low and there’s been no spikes…then I’ll feel safe enough to [not wear a mask].” said a student named Camdyn Gilbert.
“I’m glad. It should have been done earlier.” said another student at the dinner named Benjamin Reichard. “I concur.” added his friend Levi Cogswell.
Ultimately the conclusion has been reached that whilst not everyone is entirely comfortable with going maskless just yet, nobody was strongly opposed to the mandate being lifted.
The best thing students can do to prevent another mask mandate is to stay safe and take precautions to prevent spreading germs. The hope is that life starts to return to how it was pre-pandemic and masks will be a thing of the past.