EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University no longer requires people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to wear a mask on campus.
Tuesday evening, MSU President Samuel Stanley sent out an email updating the campus-wide COVID-19 community compact to allow fully vaccinated people to visit the university campus without a mask.
“We updated that compact in the directives to allow vaccinated individuals to enter our buildings, both on campus or any of our satellite campuses, or property governed by MSU, without wearing a face-covering bringing our kind of our policies and directives more in line with the state and federal government guidance,” MSU’s deputy spokesperson Dan Olsen said.
The university stopped mandating masks in outdoor spaces back in May in accordance with decisions out of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
“After more than a year of living in a pandemic, some may feel safer with a face covering. As we have from the beginning of this pandemic, we must treat one another with empathy and respect, and I trust each of you to continue doing just that,” Stanley said Tuesday.
Lily Wischman is in the accelerated nursing program at MSU. For her and her classmates, this update is an exciting step.
“Seeing people get back into the swing of things and go to parties, and the bars are open, and people are actually, physically attending class I think it's a great thing. A lot of people are very excited about it,” Wischman said.
Other community members say it will take some adjusting to get used to.
“It almost feels wrong like we shouldn’t be not wearing them but it's also nice to not have to wear them anymore,” East Lansing resident Elena Cull said.
All faculty, students, and visitors may still have to fill out a daily health screening to disclose any potential symptoms and their vaccination status.
“MSU does still reserve the right to ask for further documentation if they're if that's warranted or needed,” Olsen said.
Many are still waiting to hear if MSU will mandate COVID-19 vaccination for those returning to campus in the fall.
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