Penn State Implores Students to Wear Masks When They Return

Penn State coach James Franklin tells his players, particularly the freshmen, to sit at the front of their classes. This fall, he'll have another directive: Wear a face mask.

When Penn State's network of campuses reopen in August, students will be required to wear masks in classroom and lab settings. The university hopes that common good and peer pressure will be enough to compel its 96,000 students to wear masks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

But officials said that students who don't comply could face grade reductions or disciplinary action through the Office of Student Affairs.

“Let me be clear: Students, employees and visitors are required to wear face masks in classrooms, labs and offices, and we will hold individuals accountable," Penn State President Eric Barron said. "Our expectations, of course, are also that individuals will wear masks on campus, and in the community, as well as follow other guidelines for distancing and hand-washing, for example."

Penn State officials conducted a series of virtual town halls Monday to address the reopening process. During the sessions, Nick Jones, vice president and provost, said the university has purchased about 500,000 masks for distribution to students and employees. Classrooms will be reconfigured to promote distancing, and more hand-sanitizing stations will be available.

Penn State also is asking students and staff to limit travel after returning and plans to reduce the number of campus visitors. That will mean significantly smaller crowds for football games at Beaver Stadium, should they occur.

During the virtual town halls, though, officials stressed the mask requirement, which Penn State coaches already are taking seriously. Athletes who began voluntary workouts this month on campus have to wear face coverings during all indoor activities. That will stretch into the fall semester as well.

Damon Sims, vice president for student affairs, said Penn State "expects very strict enforcement" of the mask requirement in classrooms. Faculty members who employ participation grades will have the discretion to "influence grading behavior" based on mask-wearing.

Sims also said that students could face discipline for violating the code of conduct. "But we certainly hope it doesn't come to that," he added.

"If you fail to comply with reasonable university expectations, you're in violation of the code, so this would be a reasonable directive that students would be expected to honor," Sims said. "But we also hope that students will want to honor it, and their peers will encourage them to honor those expectations in the classroom."

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