Petition to Make Masks Mandatory at the University of Arkansas

Research shows that masks save lives. My daughter will be starting college this fall, and I strongly support college campuses requiring masks for the protection of students, faculty, and their families. Cases in Arkansas are rising at an alarming rate, and we have a responsibility to do all we can to protect our citizens. Please. Do your part.

Masks are vital to slowing the spread of covid.

For the love of humanity please require masks. My son and daughter are both students and have a brother with disability. We are trying to protect each other and specifically him!

As we bring students from all over Arkansas and neighboring states into our community, it is imperative we take every precaution, not just the easy or popular ones, to limit the risks of transmitting COVID-19. Thankfully, masks are both easy and popular in Fayetteville.

Show leadership many of our governmental leaders statewide, regional and national have not...save lives....make masks mandatory on campus

Mandatory masks at the U of A is the only sensible, and safe, plan of action. Any other policy is a threat to the lives and safety of workers and students on the campus.

Mandatory masks will substantially increase the safety of face-to-face classes and other activities on campus. They aren't FUN to wear, but they are necessary to help each other. Let us be a community and wear masks to help each other stay safe. (I'd like to think we could all do this without a mandate, but.....not all will, so lets put this rule in place!)

Please. I want to feel safe as a student!

The science and practical experience over the last six months shows that masks work to reduce spread. We need a mask mandate on campus.

It's the right thing to do.

Masks, please!

I stand with the faculty and staff at the U of A who want to protect and save lives with simple mass wearing procedures.

Without a top-down requirement of mask wearing, we also have to consider that the administration is asking Graduate Teaching Assistants i.e., students themselves (some as young as 22 or 23 years old) to enforce mask wearing among their undergraduate students in lab and classroom settings. Do *not* do this to our faculty or to our graduate students. While some faculty might feel capable of enforcement, graduate students should *not* be asked to serve in any such capacity.

Please Show care and concern and help protect our university community. We are trying to stay open and be there for our students and an outbreak will make that impossible.

Until a peak has occurred and there is a significant decline in new cases it remains the University's responsibility to protect their investment in personnel. Working from home is the sensible thing to do.

I have a daughter on campus. I worry about the students not wearing masks in her presence, as her verbal attacks can be brutal. (Debater.) Seriously. This is inviting conflict. Just mandate masks. Lead so your already stressed faculty, students, and staff don’t have to....so they have one less thing to worry about. Science backs you up.

Not a single one of you is qualified to make adult decisions. Listen to people smarter than you.

As a Fayetteville resident, I would be very thankful if the U of A would mandate best practices including mask wearing.

Wearing a mask is the only defensive method you can practice when you’re indoor and not able to practice social distancing. Mask saves lives!

Please allow staff to work from home if they are immune compromised. To do otherwise is to risk their lives.