By WHITNEE ICE
St. Joseph Post
Even with both St. Joseph and Maryville City Council's lifting their city-wide mask mandates, Missouri Western State University and Northwest Missouri State University have decided to keep their mandates in place at this time.
Northwest's Vice President of Student Affairs Matt Baker says the school looks closely to the CDC and other federal agencies for guidance.
"Given the proximity of our students within the classroom and our residence halls and our dining facilities, we felt like it was still very appropriate to continue our mitigation here as we have about a month left in our unground semester so wanted to keep that going," Baker tells St. Joseph Post.
Missouri Western's President Elizabeth Kennedy looks forward to what this fall could bring for students and staff.
"We're going to get through this semester and keep folks safe, healthy, keep our protocols in place, and hopefully we will all be vaccinated as folks are saying by this summer," says Kennedy. "Getting that herd immunity and be back to what college should look like in the fall."
Higher education is not yet eligible for the vaccine which also factored into Missouri Westerns' decision to continue with its mandates.