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Murray State To Require Universal Masking Indoors On Campuses

Murray State University

Murray State University will require all individuals, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status, to wear a mask indoors on its campuses with few exceptions.

Murray State President Bob Jackson in an email Wednesday said the new guidance would require a “great deal of personal responsibility” as the university works toward its upcoming fall semester of in-person classes. The new update to the institution’s COVID-19 guidance follows a seperate update earlier this week, where the university only required unvaccinated individuals to wear a mask indoors on campus.

“We have proven over the course of the past 16 months that we can work together to keep our campus safe and healthy,” Jackson said in the email.

The new guidance will go into effect Thursday, August 5. The guidance states masks are not required in “personal living spaces” in residence halls and are not required outdoors. Vaccinated faculty and staff are also not required to wear a mask indoors if they feel safely distanced at their personal office or work location. These policies could change if on-campus COVID-19 vaccination rates improve.

This move also follows Western Kentucky University announcing Wednesday an on-campus mask mandate as COVID-19 cases are increasingly reported throughout the state. Northern Kentucky University has also implemented a similar mandate this week.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance to have fully vaccinated individuals wear a mask indoors in areas with “high” COVID-19 community transmission, due to the spreading Delta COVID-19 variant. The CDC classifies almost all of Kentucky, including Calloway County, as having “high” COVID-19 community transmission.

The new guidance from Murray State continues to encourage voluntary COVID-19 vaccinations as the “best defense” against COVID-19. The university is hosting a series of on-campus COVID-19 vaccination clinics in the next couple of months:

  • August 12, 2021 – 12 noon – 3 p.m., MSU Health Services, 100 Wells Hall (First Dose – Moderna)
  • September 9, 2021 – 12 noon – 3 p.m., MSU Health Services, 100 Wells Hall (Second Dose – Moderna)
  • August 18 & August 19, 2021 – 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., 1st Floor of the Curris Center – (First Dose – Moderna)
  • September 15 & September 16, 2021 – 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., 1st Floor of the Curris Center – (Second Dose – Moderna)

Most universities in Kentucky and the Ohio Valley region have remained reluctant to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for faculty, staff or students. The American College Health Association, an organization that works to improve the health of college students and college campuses, has recommended since April higher education institutions require COVID-19 vaccines for students.

"Liam Niemeyer is a reporter for the Ohio Valley Resource covering agriculture and infrastructure in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia and also serves Assistant News Director at WKMS. He has reported for public radio stations across the country from Appalachia to Alaska, most recently as a reporter for WOUB Public Media in Athens, Ohio. He is a recent alumnus of Ohio University and enjoys playing tenor saxophone in various jazz groups."