Pro-Palestinian protesters march around the Columbia University quad, April 2024.Andrea Renault/STAR MAX/IPx/AP
Update, March 21: Columbia University claims its mask ban allows for “medical exemptions”; it remains unclear whether such exemptions include people with existing health issues or who currently have an infectious disease, as with North Carolina’s statewide mask ban.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Columbia University has agreed to terms set by the Trump administration in order to retain its federal funding. This includes a mask ban, and it’s unclear whether and how health exceptions would be implemented for people who, for example, are immunocompromised. The administration’s anti-mask demand seems to be in response to students at Columbia’s encampment…