Pro-mask protests, petitions continue after Nevada drops statewide mandate
Students and faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) are demanding a new mask mandate after the statewide mandate was lifted by Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak last week.
Pushback against overturned COVID regulations has been frequent on Nevada college campuses.
Students and faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) are demanding a new mask mandate after the statewide mandate was lifted by Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak last week.
[RELATED: Nevada higher ed officials demand reinstatement of student vaccine mandate]
About 50 students and faculty walked out of their classes Monday at 11:45 am, The Nevada Sagebrush, a student newspaper, reported. Before it was overturned, Nevada was one of only nine states that maintained a mandate.
UNR grad, undergrad students and faculty members are participating in a walk out, calling for the mask mandate to be reinstated on campus.@KUNRPublicRadio/@Report4America pic.twitter.com/HyPjnNGg6D
— Lucia Starbuck (@luciastarbuck) February 14, 2022
In one video, students can be heard singing a parody of Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” with the lyrics changed to say, “UNR tells you lies and hurts you…UNR lets you down and deserts you.”
Video from the protest organized by Nevada Graduate Student Workers. Protestors marched from the KC lawn to the Jones Center in an attempt to get the mask mandate reinstated. Reporting for @NevadaSagebrush pic.twitter.com/14dUUlrZ3L
— Emerson Drewes (@EmersonDrewes) February 14, 2022
Students also chanted “reinstate the mask mandate.”
“As an institution of higher learning, it is a responsibility within our educational mission to provide an environment where perspectives and experiences are shared safely, with respect and with a thorough understanding of points of view which sometimes may differ,” UNR Director of Communications Scott Walquist told Campus Reform.
“[Monday’s] demonstration was an example where there was an exchange of ideas and constructive, peaceful action regarding public issues,” Walquist added.
Students and staff joined UNR graduate students in a walkout in support of reinstating the mask mandate at UNR. Photos for @NevadaSagebrush pic.twitter.com/rybCstCc0I
— Rachel Jackson (@RachelJacksonNV) February 14, 2022
To date, over 2,070 students, faculty, and staff from colleges and universities across the state have signed a petition started by the Nevada Graduate Student Workers to reinstate the mandate.
“Many of us are concerned about the repercussions of eliminating the mask requirement at the collegiate level, and how lifting this requirement will impact our quality of work and life,” the petition says.
One petition signer’s comment read aloud during the protest stated, “I do not get paid enough to die for this university,” according to The Nevada Sagebrush.
UNR President Brian Sandoval released a letter following the governor’s announcement on Feb. 10, explaining that the university did not have the authority to create its own mandate.
“Stricter face covering requirements, according to NSHE’s legal determination, involve systemwide policy decisions that fall outside of an individual institution’s discretion,” Sandoval wrote.
[RELATED: Nevada higher ed officials demand reinstatement of student vaccine mandate]
Pushback against overturned COVID regulations has been frequent on Nevada college campuses. When the vaccine mandate was overturned in December, a petition to reinstate it gained nearly 4,000 signatures.
Last month, Campus Reform reported that the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Board of Regents approved a non-binding letter recommending the reinstatement of a college vaccination mandate. No new mandate has officially passed.
Stop what you’re doing and watch this.
Kids at a Las Vegas elementary school burst out into cheers after learning they no longer have to wear a mask to school pic.twitter.com/xIuHgFtmHo— Courtney Holland 🇺🇸 (@hollandcourtney) February 11, 2022
The lifted mask mandate was, however, received differently by Las Vegas elementary school students, who were recorded cheering and jumping with excitement after a teacher announced masks would no longer be required.
The video gained traction on social media.
My last two viral tweets was one of Nevada elementary students cheering about not having to wear masks anymore…
The other was Nevada college students protesting to stay masked.
A clear example showing how propaganda in our higher-ed institutions is ruining our kids.— Courtney Holland 🇺🇸 (@hollandcourtney) February 16, 2022
One commentator called this “a clear example showing how propaganda in our higher-ed institutions is ruining our kids.”
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