UA President: Get vaccinated and wear masks

(The Center Square) – University of Arizona President Dr. Robert C. Robbins urged students to get vaccinated and wear face masks indoors as the beginning of the fall semester nears.

“We are strongly encouraging masks in our indoor spaces, and particularly in our classrooms and laboratories,” Robbins said in a virtual news conference on Monday.

Robbins recognized that state law says he cannot mandate masks or vaccinations. He repeatedly “pleaded” with students and employees to get vaccinated, saying that the Pfizer vaccine was offered on campus.

“Obviously we’re going to obey the law, but we’re also going to encourage, and where we can, require the things that we can require, such as masks,” he said.

Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, University of Arizona and the Arizona Board of Regents, who oversee the state’s public university system, agreed to comply with Gov. Doug Ducey’s June 15 executive order banning mask and vaccine mandates at public universities.

Additionally, the FY 2022 state budget made it illegal for schools to require that students wear face-coverings or receive the vaccine to receive in-person instruction.

However, Robbins said that the solidification of the governor’s directive into law in the FY 2022 budget “removed some of the tools that would be effective at mitigating and fighting this virus.”

The Phoenix Union High School District and several other schools have instituted a mask mandate despite state law, arguing that the provisions prohibiting mask mandates did not take effect until 90 days after the end of the session on Sept. 29. When a reporter asked Robbins whether the school had considered establishing a mask mandate before it became prohibited by law, he said he was “not aware” that the law was not already in effect.

Robbins announced that classes would commence in person in two weeks, despite the increase in COVID-19 case numbers due to the delta variant. He said UA would work with Pima County, the state health department, and local officials to ensure the health of students and the community.

“We’re obviously in a very very difficult situation,” Robbins said. “I’m convinced it’s better for us to give it our best effort to open the university fully in person. I thought that at commencement we’d be in a different place. We’re not. We just are not.”

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