Why I Don’t Wear a Mask on Campus

I Photo courtesy of Canby First.

The opinions reflected in this OpEd are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the staff, faculty and students of The King’s College

Disclaimer: This piece was written during the Fall 2021 semester before the New York State mask mandate was implemented. Masks were required by law in all indoor public places except businesses and venues with vaccine requirements before today, Feb. 10, when the vaccine and mask mandates were lifted.

Being at The King’s College is great. Unlike many other educational institutions, King’s does not require you to wear a mask or to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to enroll or attend in-person. This was a huge relief for me when first attending the college after hearing about the peculiar reopening of the past school year.

I am unapologetically against being forced to wear a mask or get vaccinated. For starters, requirements like those completely violate traditional American values of liberty and individualism. The American Revolution was the result of years of government overreach and oppression that infringed upon the will of the people in the colonies. Modern democratic freedom was born out of the yearning for a structured government built with a purpose in mind that was intended to be limited.

The Ninth Amendment provides for any and all rights that aren’t specifically mentioned in the Constitution and that don’t extend upon other statutes. While the Constitution may not have anything to say about public health, it implies that the federal government does not (and should not) have any say in such matters and keeps that authority with the people and the states. For those that would say this should be only in reference to the will of the majority, I would highlight how much emphasis is painstakingly placed on the rights of individual citizens.

A popular argument against the principle of liberty in terms of health is the obvious reality that some people have died from the highly contagious virus, and more will. But if we put that into perspective, it’s ridiculous to have to work around a contagion that has a 99% survival rate. As college students, we are among one of the healthiest age groups and are some of the least likely to die from the virus. Therefore, it does not make sense for us to have to keep our heads spinning over something that is extremely unlikely to harm us. 

The Coronavirus is nowhere near as deadly as something like the bubonic plague. If it were, then it would make sense for all of us to make zero contact with each other at all. Nor is this a situation like that of rationing during World War II. The Axis Powers were a threat to America’s international survival, so it was in our best interest to take certain measures that went against typical freedom (and most importantly, they were temporary). Most of the victims of COVID-19 are those with already poor medical health and/or are of old age. Nearly all of us will live through this.

On top of that, some also argue that there should’ve been far fewer COVID-induced deaths. While this is an understandable concern, it doesn’t correctly acknowledge our current limitations at mitigating the virus. Despite our society’s attempts at social distancing, mask wearing and vaccinating, we can’t seem to shake it. New variants are continuing to pop up, and the efficacy rate of our current vaccines is declining heavily. COVID-19 will live with us until we can develop vaccines with more permanent effectiveness and herd immunity sprouts.

Beyond that, it is not the role of the government to create mandates outside of its bounds provided in the Constitution, as given by the Tenth Amendment. The state, county and city levels of government may have freer rein in their approach to the pandemic, but even they should not be crossing certain lines. To instate a uniform requirement is a test to see the willingness of a population to conform. Any law that does not expand our freedom or make our lives undeniably better should be treated as a power grab. Biden’s failing attempt to enforce vaccination through all employers with 100+ employees and De Blasio’s recent mandate for all private companies are ideas that have never been feasible in the history of the United States. 

Yes, there are vaccine requirements for other diseases such as smallpox, measles, tetanus and others, but these are old and have long been proven to be effective. Forcing people to comply with experimental and failing medicine in order to meet their basic necessities is not only risky, but essentially undemocratic considering their methods of implementation.

Limiting our capacity at production, social engagement and everyday life has proved disastrous for our economy and mental well-being. Unemployment is at record highs and child suicide rates are rising higher than they were before. If we do not get back to normal, life will continue to deteriorate in these directions. States that don’t have many COVID-19 requirements and essentially ignore the pandemic tend to recover a lot easier than states that are known for their strict responses. That doesn’t mean people won’t continue to die, but we can stop this artificial recession by living our lives the way they were beforehand. Most people will survive, and our economy can naturally recover over time.

Circling back to life at King’s, we can see students are doing well with in-person learning and enjoying campus once again. From my personal observation, King’s typically revolves around 0 to 2 positive COVID cases a week, proving to be a low positivity rate in respect to a student body of approximately 450. Larger schools like NYU have more restrictive guidelines, and even they have low numbers of cases. It’s possible to participate in a full, regular college experience without the extra effort to stay “safe” from an already non-dangerous cough. In fact, King’s should be working to cut down even further on COVID guidelines. More students should be placed in already cramped classrooms, and large events like Interregnum should be much more fully realized.

This piece is in large part a response to the op-ed entitled “Why I Wear a Mask on Campus.” In it the author states, “COVID is not a political matter; it affects everyone.” Yet the opposite is actually the case. COVID is political exactly because it affects everyone. That doesn’t mean it should be political, but it is. Therefore, we should be acting diplomatically to reduce non-sensible attempts to clamp down on a virus that can’t be controlled. Should students be wearing masks in the elevators? Probably. While masks are basically useless because they don’t provide an air-tight seal, we should be respectful of the Teacher Union’s theatrics. 

Outside of that it should be free game, and right now King’s is doing a good job with that. King’s understands the perspectives of both sides and is doing its best to appease them both. The college was even willing to give full-time remote access in extreme circumstances. King’s can’t fully give everyone what they want without disappointing some, and they can’t cater to a minority of students who are notably more cautious than most others. Those who want to keep wearing a mask and get vaccinated are free to do so, and most won’t judge them for it. But the rest of us will be enjoying regular human interaction with the peace of mind that COVID won’t kill us.

Isaac White is a freshman at The King’s College and a member of the House of Reagan.