"Do all the things that didn’t work last time": Morris Brown College’s face mask mandate sparks outrage online

All students, instructors, and staff at Morris Brown College have been informed that they must wear masks while on campus for the next two weeks. The private, historically Black college made the announcement on its official Instagram account on Sunday that it is enforcing mandatory COVID-19 remediations for the next 14 days.

The notice imposed the use of mask by students and staff at all classes and events, physical segregation, avoding contact, and other initiatives to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Since COVID-19 cases are on the rise again, masks are making a reappearance in the institution. All students, instructors, and staff were instructed to wear masks and quarantine if they felt ill, in a statement dated August 20, 2023.

These steps will be followed as "precautionary measures," Morris Brown president Kevin James told the Journal-Constitution in an email. The mail also included steps like social distancing and a two-week restriction on big gatherings.

However, this rule hasn’t been received very well by the students and social media users. Once the post went viral, netizens took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express their opinion and criticize this decision under @CovidDataReport’s post, with one person stating that they were doing "all the things that didn't work last time."

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Netizens react as Morris Brown College makes the face mask mandatory

Netizens and students protest online against this new policy of Morris Brown College (Image via Associated Press / Getty Images)

As COVID-19 cases continue to climb, the Atlanta college and Lionsgate, a Hollywood company, both announced that they were reintroducing mask requirements this week. They are the first two organizations to garner media attention for returning to the mandatory mask policy.

Morris Brown College, a liberal arts institution in Atlanta, declared on Sunday that it would reinstate the requirement for masks "in light of reports of positive cases among students." Students will be required to wear masks, keep their distance from one another, avoid large gatherings, and submit to "temperature checks" on campus for the next two weeks.

A recent spike in Covid cases and data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention show that hospitalizations for COVID-19 has increased 30% statewide in Georgia, so the college has cancelled all parties and "large student events on campus" for the next two weeks.

However, this entire incident has garnered backlash from social media users, who took to X and criticized the college for their new policy under @CovidDataReport’s post.

Meanwhile, according to an internal memo obtained by Deadline, Lionsgate's mask requirement has been reinstated for employees on two of its five floors at its headquarters in Santa Monica, California.

Employees on those floors are required to wear a medical-grade mask unless they are alone or are actively eating or drinking.

According to the Deadline report, while writing an email to their colleagues, Lionsgate Response Manager Sommer McElroy stated that:

“Employees must wear a medical grade face covering (surgical mask, KN95 or N95) when indoors except when alone in an office with the door closed, actively eating, actively drinking at their desk or workstation, or if they are the only individual present in a large open workspace.”

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More about Morris Brown College

The college is a very popular institution (Image via Associated Press)

Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia is a privately run historically black Methodist liberal arts college. Morris Brown College was the first university in Georgia to be wholly owned and run by African Americans when it was founded on January 5, 1881.

It is a modest university with 402 undergraduate students and a high acceptance rate. Business, Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement, Administration, Community Health Services and Counseling are all very popular majors of the college.

After losing its accreditation 20 years ago, the college received it back last year from the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, also known as TRACS, which is a Virginia-based accreditation body.