Faculty Unhappy With Georgia Tech Decision to Not Require Masks for Students

Faculty Unhappy With Georgia Tech Decision to Not Require Masks for Students

The school is recommending and encouraging the use of masks, but not requiring them.

CNN reports:

Georgia Tech won’t require students to wear masks on campus. Faculty aren’t happy

Over 750 faculty at Georgia Tech signed a letter to the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents saying that the school’s plan to reopen campus without face mask requirements is dangerous and not based on science.

“We are alarmed to see the Board of Regents and the University System of Georgia mandating procedures that do not follow science-based evidence, increase the health risks to faculty, students, and staff, and interfere with nimble decision-making necessary to prepare and respond to Covid-19 infection risk,” the letter from faculty says.

The faculty letter comes after Georgia Tech issued its “Tech Moving Forward” plans for reopening campus with in-class instruction in the fall. According to the plan, Georgia Tech students are “strongly encouraged” to wear a cloth face covering on campus but are not required to do so.

Seth Marder, a professor of chemistry, materials science and engineering at Georgia Tech, said the policy of not mandating masks is “irresponsible and puts the Georgia Tech community at significant health risk.”

Georgia is one of 31 states that have not mandated people wear masks. Wearing a face covering is one of the cheapest and simplest ways to slow the spread of Covid-19, according to several studies and the country’s leading health experts.

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