Xavier University will no longer require masks to be worn inside campus buildings starting in December, officials announced Thursday afternoon.
Xavier is the first higher education institution in the region to reverse its indoor mask policy.
“As a campus community, our students, faculty and staff have done an excellent job to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on our campus,” Jeff Coleman, chair of Xavier’s COVID-19 Task Force, said in the Thursday news release.
The university does have a vaccine mandate for students that went into effect on Oct. 18. Students who only received the first dose of their COVID-19 vaccine by that date will need to complete their second dose by Jan. 3.
Those who do not comply will not be able to register for spring 2022 classes, unless given an approved exemption for medical or religious reasons. Individuals with exemptions will be tested on a regular basis and "unvaccinated students should continue to wear a mask indoors," according to Thursday's release.
There is no vaccine policy for faculty and staff.
Officials said the Xavier community has had fewer than 10 total positive active cases of the virus on any given date in the last month. More than 92% of Xavier students are currently vaccinated, and 93% of all permanent employees are also vaccinated. Xavier's total employee vaccination rate is 88%.
“While we are making this transition to lift the mask mandate, the Task Force will continue to monitor our campus and local environments,” Coleman said. “If our community numbers change, the Task Force will respond as needed to keep our community safe.”
More information about the university's mask policy and community vaccination rates can be found on Xavier's website.
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