By Nicole Biello
CCC Journalism Program
Masking indoors at Camden County College will become optional at the close of business on March 25, College President Donald Borden announced Wednesday. The college informed CCC students and staff members about the decision to lift the mask mandate via email Wednesday afternoon.
The Return to Campus Committee gathered on Tuesday to discuss their plan of action following Gov. Phil Murphy’s statewide lifting of the mask mandate on the previous day. While some schools have already lifted their mandates accordingly, Borden and his committee took the time to consider a plethora of factors during their deliberation.
“Every decision we’ve made has been – first of all, what do the health experts say?” Borden said. ”I’m an educator. I’d like to say I’m an expert in health, and I think I know more than I did two years ago, but I don’t feel like I’m the person who should be making these decisions. That’s why we put a committee together that really depended on the information we’ve received from the experts.”
The CDC guidelines and other information from leading health experts were not the only determining components in this decision. Borden said the timeliness of implementation was heavily considered.
“We have spring break starting next week, and our spikes have been after holidays and breaks,” Borden explained. “So we want to give a week after that, just to make sure that we don’t have an uptick that is of great concern.”
Students and professors had a lot to say about the mask mandate, which has been in effect since early in the pandemic. Some were wary about the idea of their peers masklessly roaming the campus.
“I don’t think it should change for schools,” said Skylar Ervin, a 20-year-old education major at the college. “There’s people coming from all over and you just don’t know.”
Ervin’s biggest concern was that classes could go remote again if COVID-19 cases rose as a direct result of masklessness. Other students, such as 27-year-old Eric Regensburger, voiced concern about the efficacy of masks in general and were unopposed to the mandate’s proximate end.
“We shouldn’t have to wear masks if it doesn’t matter, if they don’t work,” Regensburger said. “I’ve gone out in the winter on a cold day and just gone outside and breathed. And watched all the steam leave my mask. And COVID’s supposed to sit on the vapor of your breath, that’s how it transmits. So, it doesn’t seem like it’s doing its job.”
With any controversial decision, differing reactions and opinions are inevitable.
“And, there’s going to be disagreements, but that’s normal,” explained public speaking professor James Patrick.
Public safety staff members and administrators will continue to monitor COVID-19 cases before and after the lifting of the mask mandate, and if the number of cases rises drastically, the Return to Campus Committee plans to reconvene and revisit its decision, said Borden.
“From the beginning, our primary concern has been the wellbeing of everybody on this campus,” Borden said. “Probably like everybody else, we’re tired of it all. We’d like it to just go away, but at the same time we’re entrusted with taking care of the people in our care and we will continue to do that.“