Masks will no longer be required in Sommer Center’s Copeland Court area, the university announced in an email on Nov. 9.
In a weekly newsletter sent to students, the announcement stated masks were not required during athletic competitions and Student Life events taking place on Copeland Court. Masks, however, are still required in the rest of the complex.
Karen Bontrager in her office. Photo taken by Olivia Daugherty.
Karen Bontrager, the Director of the President’s Office and Institutional Planning, is also the committee chair of the Living Through COVID Committee. According to Bontrager, the goal of the committee is to create and normalize long-term solutions to the pandemic.
“The purpose of this committee is working through the long-term stuff,” Bontrager said. “This is going to be our reality now—it’s not going to be as temporary as we thought it was going to be. How do we get this to be part of our lives, how do we normalize these things?”
The university met with presidents of the other universities in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference to discuss masking policies for the winter sports season. The presidents voted to allow each campus to set its own rules instead of following the same guidelines. This allowed Bluffton to make its own decision on whether to enforce a mask policy.
“The [president’s] cabinet met with Dr. Sherri Winegardner [professor of nursing],” said Bontrager. “She noted the Sommer Center is a huge space, it’s a newer building so there’s air-flow, and there is the possibility of opening doors.”
The university also met with Dr. David Yost. Yost is a Bluffton alumnus who works with the Centers for Disease Control as an infectious disease specialist. Yost recommended having a special section for people who want to wear masks and social distance, Bontrager said.
Kourtney Kretschmar is a senior nursing major and president of the Bluffton Student Nurses Organization. Kretschmar believes the university should relax the mask policies in phases.
“We don’t have enough people vaccinated or taking careful precautions to stop the spread, along with many respiratory viruses floating around campus,” said Kretschmar, a registered nurse. “I feel that dropping the mask policies all at once is a spike in illnesses waiting to happen.”
As the year goes on, masking policies could change depending on how the campus’ cases are.
“Fortunately, we haven’t seen any outbreaks on campus this semester,” Bontrager said. “This is what we are doing for now. It’s possible that it will change in the future but we’re going to try it and see how it goes.”
