Letter to the Editor: Response to “DePaul doesn’t need a mask mandate”
Students wearing face masks after they have been checked at the entrance of an auditorium for a validated Covid Certificate during a lecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tuesday, September 21, 2021. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)
Prior to the start of classes, a letter to the editor from DePaul student Dace Potas was published in The DePaulia that criticized the university’s decision to require masks on campus.
The letter stated that, “The administration’s decision to reinstate the University mask mandate is completely unnecessary and not based in science.”
Perhaps some science that was disregarded from the author comes from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website, stating that masks are a barrier that block the transmission of respiratory droplets. Later in the letter, Potas claims that since getting the Covid-19 vaccine is a requirement to return to campus at DePaul, masking is unnecessary. The CDC also states that while being vaccinated reduces the risk of intense sickness from the virus, anyone can still become infected with Covid-19 and spread it to others.
Shermar Price, a current junior at Depaul, supports the university’s decision. “The objective is to stop the spread of Covid-19,” he said. “Wearing a mask decreases the spread of the virus.”
A concept that Potas failed to consider was the fact that DePaul students who support the mask mandate are not apprehensive about death or severe symptoms from this virus. The concern is ending the pandemic, and the university’s decision to enforce a mask mandate reflects that concern.
Price, who is fully vaccinated, later disclosed that he was exposed to Covid-19 directly but credits his mask in preventing him from contracting and spreading the virus.
Layla Walcott, a student living off campus, stressed the importance of the campus mask mandate. “I believe it is very necessary and I wish more people agreed,” she said.
Walcott was concerned prior to the return of in-person classes that many individuals would be nonchalant about the pandemic now that they are vaccinated. However, being vaccinated is not a magic button that neutralizes the risks of the pandemic.
Much of DePaul’s student population lives off campus. The naïve claim that the university should not require masks because campus vaccine rates are high and the population is relatively low-risk is tone-deaf to commuter students.
While many can relate to the irritability of wearing a mask for a year and a half, selfishness is not the solution to solving this annoyance. Continuing to wear a mask is no longer for us — the vaccinated and low-risk individuals. It’s for the protection of the high-risk elderly Chicagoans that need to take the train every day. It’s for the safety of children who are unable to get vaccinated. It’s for the disabled and immunocompromised students and staff of this university. Ultimately, wearing a mask is about empathy.
Potas signed his letter with the signature “A Fed-Up Student.” And to that, I give you:
Sincerely,
Isabelle Earl, A Student Who Wants To See My Grandma At Thanksgiving.
EDKHS • Oct 4, 2021 at 1:31 am
There is no stopping covid at this point. There is protecting those who are vulnerable and going back to normal life. The vulnerable can wear masks or stay home while the rest of us go back to our normal life. Its not selfish to be fed up with the masks. Its looking at the available information and coming to the conclusion that they aren’t necessary. Luckily for me and this student and others who feel the way we do, you don’t have to follow the mandate. The university for the most part doesn’t enforce it. I walk around and sit around campus with out my mask on an no one says a word. I’ve had students, professors and other staff look right at me without it on and they don’t say a word. If your grandma is vaccinated, you’re gonna see her at Thanksgiving. As you admit, the mask is about empathy, not science. Please stop wearing your mask to virtue signal how empathetic you are because only you need to know your own value.