EDUCATION

ASU, NAU, UA will require masks in all classrooms in possible defiance of state law

Lacey Latch
Arizona Republic

Arizona State University officials announced Wednesday that they will require face coverings in all classrooms and labs, as well as some other indoor settings, while Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona followed suit shortly after.

The universities' updated policies may contradict the state's prohibition on requiring masks for unvaccinated people to receive in-person classroom instruction. That ban was introduced in an executive order from Gov. Doug Ducey in June and later placed into law with the passage of the state budget.

ASU's rules now state that: "In certain indoor settings face coverings will be required. Those settings include all classrooms and teaching or research labs."

Additionally, the university will require masks "in close-quarter environments where physical distancing may not be possible."

These include ASU clinical programs and centers that serve the public; meeting rooms, production studios and other indoor locations where distancing isn't possible; and all indoor settings "designated by posted signage."

NAU, UA announce similar mask requirements

Later Wednesday, Northern Arizona University President José Luis Cruz Rivera announced during an online town hall that the school also would require masks in all classrooms, labs and indoor and outdoor settings where social distancing was not possible. 

UA President Robert C. Robbins announced Wednesday evening that the university "will require face masks be worn in all indoor spaces where it is not possible to adequately and continuously maintain social distance." He wrote more details would come later. 

A spokesman for Ducey did not respond to questions about whether the governor viewed the actions as a violation of his executive order or the law.

"Gov. Ducey is not supportive of mandates or virtue signaling. Rather than creating new mandates, the focus should be on promoting vaccinations — the vaccine is widely available and proven effective," said C.J. Karamargin, a spokesperson for the Governor's Office. "We're not anti-mask; we're anti-mandate."

Signs encouraging masks on ASU's downtown Phoenix campus.

Meanwhile, university officials argued that they are in compliance with the state’s restrictions because the mandate applies to everyone at ASU.

"Unlike the legislation applicable to K-12 districts, neither the governor’s order nor the legislation applicable to the universities prohibits a mask mandate," said ASU spokesperson Jay Thorne. "Instead, it prohibits the universities from either requiring vaccinations or imposing different requirements on students to attend classes (such as masking or testing) based on the student’s vaccination status or willingness to disclose that status."

Thorne said that there is "no limit to what we can do in terms of masking at a university level and requiring that of all students in areas where we can't provide physical distancing."

He said ASU officials believe they can require masks as long as there is no differentiation between unvaccinated and vaccinated students.

However, the University of Arizona president said earlier in the week that the school would have imposed vaccine and mask mandates on campus but that the state law prohibits them from doing so.

What executive order, law say

The executive order and the law that followed do not explicitly address whether masks are allowed under a one-size-fits-all policy.

The law states that universities can't "place any conditions on attendance or participation in classes or academic activities, including mandatory testing or face covering usage, if the person chooses not to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine or disclose whether the person has been vaccinated against COVID-19."

The law and executive order also prohibit universities from mandating vaccinations or proof of vaccinations.

Democratic lawmakers from District 26 in Tempe, where ASU's main campus is located, expressed support for the plans as coronavirus cases rise across the state.

“We commend Arizona State University’s decision to protect students, staff, faculty and the greater ASU community by requiring face coverings in classrooms and labs on campus," said Sen. Juan Mendez and Reps. Athena Salman and Melody Hernandez in a joint statement. "With tens of thousands of students returning for the fall semester, this is a step in the right direction and it is imperative that university administrators utilize every tool at their disposal to stop the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant."

Meanwhile, some Republican lawmakers want to see punishments for schools and universities that implement mask mandates.

"The message ASU and some school districts are sending to their students is that they can ignore the law if they disagree with it," said state Sen. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa. "The message I would like to send the schools is that we will enforce the law and that a little civics lesson is in order, which will be that the Legislature holds the purse strings." 

The Republican backlash extended beyond state government as prominent conservative figure Charlie Kirk on Twitter called for Ducey to hold ASU leaders accountable for the mask mandate. 

"They are breaking the law," Kirk wrote. "Time to punish the law breakers."

After Ducey's executive order was first issued, the state's public universities and the governing body that oversees them had said they would comply with the executive order. The universities, as well as Maricopa Community Colleges, are all encouraging masks indoors and they will be required in places like health centers, clinical settings and on-campus transportation.

The schools' administrations plan to rely on incentives such as giveaways and raffles to encourage students to get vaccinated.

On Monday, University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins said the school cannot require face coverings or vaccinations. He said the university would have required both if it could.

“The ideal would be that we could require everyone to be vaccinated, we could require everyone to cover their face, we could require many things that other places are doing but we cannot do (that) here because of state law,” Robbins said

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