Wayne Community College is now requiring the wearing of face coverings on its campus.
In accordance with Gov. Roy Cooper’s most recent executive order, the college will require students, employees, and visitors to wear face coverings when on campus. This directive will take effect the evening of Friday, June 26 and will stay in place until further notice.
The wearing of face coverings on the WCC campus had been strongly encouraged until this point.
“As Wayne Community College is looking toward the next academic year, we are also watching the indicators that show that this disease continues to be a threat” said WCC President Thomas A. Walker Jr. “It is evident that we must take additional steps to tamp down COVID-19 and provide a safer environment in which to live and learn.”
Individuals should wear face coverings inside campus buildings, including classrooms and laboratories, and outside when it is not possible to maintain a distance of at least six feet from others. Faculty and staff will not be required to wear them when alone in their offices.
Individual exceptions to this requirement will be honored, “but all are asked, if they are healthy and able to wear a face covering, to do so and not put others at risk,” Walker said.
Visitors entering the buildings who do not have a face covering can ask a college employee for a disposable mask to wear while conducting business on campus.
Employees and current students were notified of the directive on Friday. Information was posted on the college’s website and Walker provided a video message. Posters with the message were distributed throughout the campus.
Wearing face coverings is one of the practices designed to reduce the spread of COVID-19 that WCC has instituted. The college is also facilitating social distancing and encouraging personal hygiene, has installed physical barriers, and has enhanced facility sanitation.
Walker reminded all to practice the three Ws – wait six feet apart, wash your hands, and wear your face covering.
“We are endeavoring to protect the well-being of not only our college family, but also the community beyond our campus,” Walker said. “We recognize the extra layer of responsibility and perhaps inconvenience for some, but Wayne Community College puts the health and safety of all, including you and your family, at a premium.”
