Category: Messages to the Community, News

Title: Changes to COVID-19 Mask Guidelines

Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community,

Georgetown will implement a mask-optional policy beginning Monday, March 21, 2022. Our current mask requirement will remain in effect through Sunday, March 20, 2022 to provide a transition while many students return to campus after spring break.

Effective March 21, if the University’s positivity rate next week remains low, wearing a mask will be optional in University-owned or operated buildings, including classrooms, research laboratories, libraries, offices, dining facilities, residential buildings and fitness centers, with limited exceptions, including:

  • Individuals must wear a mask in University health care facilities (e.g., Student Health Center), as required by Mayor Bowser’s February 14 order, and at our on-campus One Medical testing sites, including while waiting in line.
  • Individuals must wear a mask while on Georgetown University Transportation Shuttles (GUTS), as required by federal law.
  • Individuals in, or recently released from, quarantine or isolation must wear a mask for the full 10 days from the date of exposure or infection, consistent with DC Health guidance and CDC guidance.
  • Individuals with accommodation plans that include enhanced public health measures should continue to abide by those plans, as currently in place.

Individual faculty and departments may not institute alternative public health measures for their classrooms, offices, meetings or events.

The University’s mask-optional policy is informed by DC Health’s March 8 guidance for institutions of higher education. We may reinstate the indoor mask requirement or other restrictions for short periods, as needed based on community or campus infection rates.

Guided by our Jesuit values, we encourage mutual respect and civility as members of our community take into consideration their unique personal circumstances about whether to wear a mask.

Everyone has the right to wear a mask whenever and wherever they wish on our campuses. Individual community members may choose to wear a mask for a variety of reasons. We also understand some community members may be concerned about being indoors with people who are not wearing a mask. Recent studies have shown that N95s and KN95s provide strong protection to the wearer even when they are around other people who are not wearing a mask.

We will continue to provide free N95s and KN95s on campus, and we encourage community members to continue to wear a mask if they feel more comfortable doing so.

Please respect the decisions and privacy of fellow community members by not asking why someone is wearing a mask. Please help all members of our community feel welcome and safe, and consider putting on a mask when interacting with someone who is wearing a mask. Do not pressure someone to put on or take off a mask.

We are continuing to take a layered approach to protecting the health and safety of the Georgetown community. The University’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement for students, faculty, staff and visitors; COVID-19 Testing Protocol; and quarantine and isolation policies remain in effect.

With the Omicron surge receding, we are deeply grateful for your collective efforts to protect the health and safety of the Georgetown community throughout the past two years. We look forward to the opportunities ahead to come together and build community on our campuses while continuing to care about and for one another.

Sincerely,

Robert M. Groves
Provost

Edward B. Healton
Executive Vice President for Health Sciences

William M. Treanor
Executive Vice President and Dean of the Law Center

David Green
Interim Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Ranit Mishori, M.D., MHS, FAAFP
Professor of Family Medicine, Vice President and Chief Public Health Officer