Vaccine and mask mandates on MT university campuses
The Issue
To all students, staff and faculty of MT university campuses and the concerned members of the public.
The science is clear. The new Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 (a.k.a. COVID-19) has a much higher rate of transmission than older variants. If you have kids under the age of 12 or know any unvaccinated adults, chances are high that some of them will contract the disease. While most people recover from COVID-19 completely, some (including kids) suffer from COVID-19 induced symptoms for months or even years. It is our responsibility as a society to protect the most vulnerable amongst us. And rarely has it been so easy to achieve that. Vaccines against COVID-19 are easily available for most US adults, and masks have been shown to be extremely effective in slowing the spread of the disease.
https://www.aappublications.org/news/2020/08/07/covid19hospitalization080720
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) updated guidelines as well as the advisory by the US Department of Education strongly suggest all eligible people to be vaccinated and to enact mask mandates for all large indoor gatherings. The latter include classes in all elementary and high schools as well as college campuses.
https://www.ed.gov/coronavirus
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/colleges-universities/index.html
In order to protect unvaccinated members of our community, including all children under the age 12 as well as adults who have yet not received a vaccine, it is the responsibility of political and university leadership to act. The recent decision by Gov. Gianforte to nullify any local mask mandate is a threat to public health. University administration is not allowed to require vaccinations or masks on MT college campuses, because they would be in violation of MT state law. Faculty are not allowed to inquire a student's vaccination status or require masks in class in order to protect themselves, their children, or the students. Doing so would violate university and state guidelines.
We hope that, if given the chance, university administrators would do what is right for their students, staff, and faculty, and the people of MT. This means - at minimum - require masks for all indoor campus settings (including all classes), and, ideally, require vaccinations.
By raising awareness to this issue, we hope to create enough public attention and public support – by university students, faculty, staff as well as members of the concerned public – for Gov. Gianforte to rethink his decision and allow local entities and state universities to make their own decision on whether to enact a mask mandate. We also call upon all college administrators to act quickly and adapt guidelines for campuses where every person can feel safe to not contract COVID-19 or bring it home to their children.
The Issue
To all students, staff and faculty of MT university campuses and the concerned members of the public.
The science is clear. The new Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 (a.k.a. COVID-19) has a much higher rate of transmission than older variants. If you have kids under the age of 12 or know any unvaccinated adults, chances are high that some of them will contract the disease. While most people recover from COVID-19 completely, some (including kids) suffer from COVID-19 induced symptoms for months or even years. It is our responsibility as a society to protect the most vulnerable amongst us. And rarely has it been so easy to achieve that. Vaccines against COVID-19 are easily available for most US adults, and masks have been shown to be extremely effective in slowing the spread of the disease.
https://www.aappublications.org/news/2020/08/07/covid19hospitalization080720
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) updated guidelines as well as the advisory by the US Department of Education strongly suggest all eligible people to be vaccinated and to enact mask mandates for all large indoor gatherings. The latter include classes in all elementary and high schools as well as college campuses.
https://www.ed.gov/coronavirus
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/colleges-universities/index.html
In order to protect unvaccinated members of our community, including all children under the age 12 as well as adults who have yet not received a vaccine, it is the responsibility of political and university leadership to act. The recent decision by Gov. Gianforte to nullify any local mask mandate is a threat to public health. University administration is not allowed to require vaccinations or masks on MT college campuses, because they would be in violation of MT state law. Faculty are not allowed to inquire a student's vaccination status or require masks in class in order to protect themselves, their children, or the students. Doing so would violate university and state guidelines.
We hope that, if given the chance, university administrators would do what is right for their students, staff, and faculty, and the people of MT. This means - at minimum - require masks for all indoor campus settings (including all classes), and, ideally, require vaccinations.
By raising awareness to this issue, we hope to create enough public attention and public support – by university students, faculty, staff as well as members of the concerned public – for Gov. Gianforte to rethink his decision and allow local entities and state universities to make their own decision on whether to enact a mask mandate. We also call upon all college administrators to act quickly and adapt guidelines for campuses where every person can feel safe to not contract COVID-19 or bring it home to their children.
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Petition created on August 3, 2021