OU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors and the OU Faculty Senate Executive Committee released statements calling for lawmakers and university administrators to reevaluate state Senate Bill 658 and Gov. Kevin Stitt’s Executive Order 2021-16.
Senate Bill 658 prevents certain entities, including the board of regents of an institution within the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, from mandating vaccines or implementing mask mandates for students unvaccinated against COVID-19. Executive Order 2021-16 prohibits state agencies from mandating masks, or requiring a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of admittance to any public building.
OU administrators have cited both laws as barring the institution from implementing mask and vaccination mandates on campus, though several legal experts said the university’s interpretation is questionable.
OU-AAUP wrote an open letter Wednesday in support of stronger campus COVID-19 regulations, which currently has 140 signatures from community members. In it, the group lists a series of demands, which include providing a legal rebuttal to SB 658 and Executive Order 2021-16 or challenging both statutes in state courts.
Various universities and school districts have implemented vaccination and mask requirements despite state laws barring them from doing so. The University of Arkansas’s governing board voted Wednesday to require masks on its campuses following a judge’s decision to block the state’s mask mandate ban. The Santa Fe South school district in OKC also became the first in Oklahoma to implement a mask mandate against state law on Wednesday, though it announced Thursday it would allow parents to opt their children out of the requirement for “personal, medical or religious reasons.”
In Oklahoma, the laws are being challenged by the Oklahoma State Medical Association.
The Faculty Senate Executive Committee called for the Oklahoma State Legislature and Gov. Kevin Stitt to reconsider the two laws in an emailed statement. They wrote that this would allow schools to implement mask and vaccine mandates as they deem necessary.
Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole said Wednesday he supports local control over masks in schools and the best decisions for localities are “usually made by the people that actually live” there.
A university spokesperson wrote in a Thursday evening statement OU's continuing to monitor the state of COVID-19 across Oklahoma and its three campuses. It's aware of a "potentially evolving" legal landscape related to this, and it will modify any protocols as appropriate within the confines of the law.
The executive committee wrote it fully supports the CDC’s position that vaccinations remain the strongest tool to stop the spread of COVID-19 and prevent COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths. The group strongly encourages all eligible faculty, staff and students to vaccinate if eligible and able to do so, and it strongly encourages masking in indoor public spaces regardless of vaccination status.
The committee also called for OU to make vaccines “readily available and creatively incentivized,” and to promote mask use.
OU Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler said last week administrators plan to implement incentives for students to get vaccinated, though he didn’t disclose further details.
Human Resources is developing a similar incentive program for employees, a university spokesperson wrote Thursday evening. Campus signage and messaging related to masking and vaccination will be "widely present" on all three campuses. As modifications to existing safety measures may be made, the university will continue to work with both Faculty and Staff Senates.
OU-AAUP also endorsed an expanded pandemic response from the university in its letter. Although it wrote OU’s vaccination clinics during student move-in and the start of the semester are “a good step,” strong encouragement of vaccinations and mask use “aren’t enough for achieving effective community protection.”
“It is only through vaccinations, use of masks, and regular testing that we will ensure the health and safety of our campus community and the residents of our state,” the letter read.
Letter signees called for the university to add the COVID-19 vaccine to its list of required immunizations for employees and students or create policies to ensure a vaccinated campus. Neither SB 658 or Executive Order 2021-16 bar institutions from doing this for employees.
OU-AAUP also advocated for a mandatory mask mandate in all public spaces when Cleveland County’s community transmission rate is rated substantial or high by the CDC.
Additional demands include engaging in all aspects of “robust, effective and ongoing” vaccination promotion campaigns, allowing workers and students to work and study remotely, to the extent it’s possible, and granting hazard pay to employees. The group also encouraged the creation and publicization of a pandemic plan, which it said should outline pandemic policies, with clear benchmarks and planned responses to various scenarios, as well as protocols for booster vaccinations.
“While the University has made it possible for individuals to request (with no guarantee) approval of remote work or possible online teaching / learning options via OU Human Resources or the Americans with Disabilities Act, a global pandemic, by its very nature, applies to everyone and cannot be mitigated on a case-by-case basis,” OU-AAUP wrote. “Public health is just that: public. As a public university, we must lead by example.”
This article was updated at 8:19 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, to reflect the university's response to the two groups' demands.
