Faculty push

✅As Delta Variant Surges, Faculty Urge Their Colleges to Change Course 

(Chronicle of Higher Ed) 

A handful of professors gathered this week under the hot sun on a large grassy field at Clemson University. Propped up next to them were signs that read, “All In for Masks,” and, “A Mask Is a Small Ask.” 

Kimberly Paul, an associate professor of genetics and biochemistry, had staged the demonstration. She had been galvanized by a tweet posted by James P. Clements, the university president, of the new-student convocation on August 13. In the photos, students are seated shoulder to shoulder, indoors, many of them maskless. Paul got angry. “I was like, That is it. The university is not taking this seriously.”

. . .

New coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in South Carolina were on the rise. Clemson hadn’t yet issued a mask mandate. The state’s attorney general had told the University of South Carolina that lawmakers had intended to ban such requirements, prompting the flagship to back off its mandate. But Paul wanted Clemson to “be brave,” push back, and “own their power in the state,” she said. 

. . . 

That tinder isn’t confined to Clemson. Faculty groups at colleges across the country are asking or demanding more protective measures be put in place. They worry about the Delta variant of the coronavirus, straggling vaccination rates in some states, and the fact that — though it’s rare — vaccinated people can catch and transmit the virus…. [continue reading]

✅Orange County performing arts venues announce mandatory COVID-19 vaccination and mask requirements 

(OC Reg) 

Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Irvine Barclay Theatre, South Coast Repertory will require proof of vaccination and enforce mask-wearing for upcoming performances.