photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World photo

Masks are no longer required to enter Allen Fieldhouse, pictured on Dec. 30, 2021. The university dropped the mask requirement for men's and women's basketball games earlier this month, but still strongly encourage fans to wear masks while in the building.

There’s a mystery behind the mask at the University of Kansas.

Why have KU leaders dropped the mask mandate inside Allen Fieldhouse — generally the most densely occupied building on campus when it is in use for a men’s basketball game — but are still requiring that masks be worn by students and staff in far less crowded classrooms and other public spaces?

Answers were hard to come by on Thursday, as the Lawrence campus is largely deserted because students and faculty are on winter break.

The campus wasn’t deserted on Wednesday night, though, as more than 16,000 people were packed into Allen Fieldhouse to watch the Jayhawks play Nevada. Many of them were unmasked, sitting shoulder to shoulder, yelling and screaming. KU’s new Allen Fieldhouse policy now says that is fine, even as COVID cases are on a sharp rise in Douglas County and public health leaders earlier on Wednesday placed the community in a “code red” designation. That designation specifically asks people to wear masks and avoid large social gatherings.

A pair of KU leaders who were not involved in the decision to drop the mask mandate at Allen Fieldhouse speculated that enforcement issues with the mask mandate at the fieldhouse led to its demise. Shortly before Christmas, KU Athletics leaders changed the mask requirement to a recommendation.

Prior to that change, ushers and others were stationed throughout the fieldhouse during games holding signs alerting the crowd to the requirement to wear a mask — unless you are eating or drinking food or beverages from the concession stands. The signage was voluminous, making it hard for fans not to know that a mask was required. But not wearing one remained relatively easy, nonetheless.

“My understanding is that enforcement was really challenging,” said Rémy Lequesne, KU Faculty Senate president. “The new policy probably reflects reality.”

Student Body President Niya Denise McAdoo, who like Lequesne wasn’t involved in the fieldhouse decision, said she also thought enforcement issues at the fieldhouse led to the mask requirement simply becoming a mask recommendation. But she also thinks the change is reflective of a broader issue at KU.

“Honestly, I think KU has been a little wishy-washy in the way they want to approach the mask mandate, and just going back and forth, back and forth on how to keep campus safe,” McAdoo said.

A spokesman for Kansas Athletics when reached by text message on Thursday didn’t answer any questions related to why Kansas Athletics ended the mask requirement or whether it was reconsidering the decision as case levels spike.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World photo

Signs at the entrance to Strong Hall, home to the Chancellor’s office and other administration at the University of Kansas, alert visitors that a mask mandate is still in effect on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.

A mask dichotomy

The new Allen Fieldhouse rules create a two-tiered system on the Lawrence campus. Masks aren’t required inside the fieldhouse, but are required in virtually all other indoor spaces. On Thursday morning, the doors of Allen Fieldhouse were cleaned of any signs touting a mask requirement — although there was one legalese sign telling visitors they were assuming all “risks related to the exposure and spread of COVID-19.”

Nearby, though, the entrances to other university buildings looked different. Across the street from Allen Fieldhouse at the business school, the “wear a mask” sign advertising KU’s mandatory mask policy for classrooms and other indoor spaces was on the door. That was the same for the engineering school buildings just up the street from Allen Fieldhouse, and also for all the classroom buildings on Jayhawk Boulevard.

All indications are that KU’s mandatory mask policy for classrooms and other indoor public spaces will remain in effect when the spring semester begins in mid-January. An end-of-semester message from KU Chancellor Douglas Girod earlier this month forecast there would be no changes in the policy.

“We’re still monitoring COVID-19 and its variants through our Pandemic Medical Advisory Team, and we expect to continue operating next spring as we have this fall,” Girod said in his message, which also included a plea for people to get vaccinated and boosted.

Both McAdoo and Lequesne said they also had not been notified of any pending changes to the mask policy for classrooms and other indoor spaces. Lequesne said there are many faculty members who want to get back to normal and begin teaching without masks again. But he also said there are many faculty members who are uncomfortable doing so until medical experts give a more definitive all clear signal.

“The only way we are going to get out of this is following the science, and it says we need to get vaccinated and wear masks,” Lequesne said. “I hope we follow the science and not the politics.”

McAdoo said opinions on masks in the classrooms were also mixed among students. But she said she’s a supporter of the policy and is glad that it seemingly will remain in place when the new semester begins.

She also said the Allen Fieldhouse change is worrisome since KU is not requiring any proof of vaccination for fans to enter.

“They are stricter with their bag policy than they are on checking whether people are sick or vaccinated,” she said, referring to metal detectors that search bags and other items upon entry to the fieldhouse.

She said she is worried whether the exception to the mask mandate given to Allen Fieldhouse will be the first of many given on the Lawrence campus.

“It just sets an unsettling precedent,” she said. “If we are starting at Allen Fieldhouse where it is most populated, what kind of ripple effects will that create across campus?”

McAdoo, who does have a seat on the Kansas Athletics board through her role as student body president, said she thinks the mask mandate ought to be reinstated at the fieldhouse because it would send the right message to the community.

“They should reinstate the Allen Fieldhouse mandate, because ultimately we’re trying to care for our community,” she said.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World photo

A sign at the entrance to Allen Fieldhouse on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, warns visitors of the risks related to COVID-19.

Who approved?

It wasn’t clear on Thursday what process was used to eliminate the fieldhouse mandate. A brief statement on the KU Athletics website said the “University of Kansas has updated its policy on mask wearing for men’s and women’s basketball games in Allen Fieldhouse.”

KU’s official mask policy that is listed on its protect.ku.edu website, however, didn’t appear to be updated on Thursday morning to provide an exemption to Allen Fieldhouse. The policy, though, does spell out how the policy can be changed: “The Chancellor, Executive Policy Group, or Chancellor’s designee may amend, suspend, or rescind this policy, as appropriate, based on containment or control of the disease, advice of public health officials, or other relevant information.”

At the time of the change, signs of COVID being under control were not plentiful. Rather, national reports were about the emergence of the omicron variant and its greater transmission rates. Reports since then have said early evidence suggests omicron spreads more easily, but may not produce hospitalizations at the same rate as the delta variant. Local health department leaders earlier this week said the delta variant remains the dominant COVID variety in Douglas County and the state.

It wasn’t clear on Thursday whether the chancellor or someone else in the administration formally approved the change to KU’s mask policy exempting Allen Fieldhouse. An attempt to reach a spokeswoman in the chancellor’s office was unsuccessful, as that office is closed until Monday.